1
|
La Penna G, Machetti F. Probing Reactivity with External Forces: The Case of Nitroacetamides in Water. Molecules 2023; 29:9. [PMID: 38202592 PMCID: PMC10780269 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29010009] [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: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Many computational methods have been applied to interpret and predict changes in reactivity by slight modifications of a given molecular scaffold. We describe a novel and simple method based on approximate density-functional theory of valence electrons that can be applied within a large high-performance computational infrastructure to probe such changes using a statistical sample of molecular configurations, including the solvent. All the used computational tools are fully open-source. Following our previous application, we are able to explain the high acidity of C-H bond at α position in nitro compounds when the amide linkage an ammonium group is inserted into the α substituent.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni La Penna
- Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici (ICCOM), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), via Madonna Del Piano 10, I-50019 Firenze, Italy;
- Section of Roma-Tor Vergata, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Machetti
- Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici (ICCOM), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), c/o Dipartimento di Chimica “Ugo Schiff”, via Della Lastruccia 13, I-50019 Firenze, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Nobili G, Botticelli S, La Penna G, Morante S, Rossi G, Salina G. Probing protein stability: towards a computational atomistic, reliable, affordable, and improvable model. Front Mol Biosci 2023; 10:1122269. [PMID: 37325476 PMCID: PMC10267363 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1122269] [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: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
We present an improved application of a recently proposed computational method designed to evaluate the change of free energy as a function of the average value of a suitably chosen collective variable in proteins. The method is based on a full atomistic description of the protein and its environment. The goal is to understand how the protein melting temperature changes upon single-point mutations, because the sign of the temperature variation will allow us to discriminate stabilizing vs. destabilizing mutations in protein sequences. In this refined application the method is based on altruistic well-tempered metadynamics, a variant of multiple-walkers metadynamics. The resulting metastatistics is then modulated by the maximal constrained entropy principle. The latter turns out to be especially helpful in free-energy calculations as it is able to alleviate the severe limitations of metadynamics in properly sampling folded and unfolded configurations. In this work we apply the computational strategy outlined above in the case of the bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, a well-studied small protein, which is a reference for computer simulations since decades. We compute the variation of the melting temperature characterizing the folding-unfolding process between the wild-type protein and two of its single-point mutations that are seen to have opposite effect on the free energy changes. The same approach is used for free energy difference calculations between a truncated form of frataxin and a set of five of its variants. Simulation data are compared to in vitro experiments. In all cases the sign of the change of melting temperature is reproduced, under the further approximation of using an empirical effective mean-field to average out protein-solvent interactions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Germano Nobili
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
| | - Simone Botticelli
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
| | - Giovanni La Penna
- CNR-Istituto di Chimica Dei Composti Organometallici, Firenze, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
| | - Silvia Morante
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- CNR-Istituto di Chimica Dei Composti Organometallici, Firenze, Italy
| | - Giancarlo Rossi
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, Roma, Italy
| | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Harada R, Morita R, Shigeta Y. Free-Energy Profiles for Membrane Permeation of Compounds Calculated Using Rare-Event Sampling Methods. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:259-269. [PMID: 36574612 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The free-energy profile of a compound is an essential measurement in evaluating the membrane permeation process by means of theoretical methods. Computationally, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation allows the free-energy profile calculation. However, MD simulations frequently fail to sample membrane permeation because they are rare events induced in longer timescales than the accessible timescale of MD, leading to an insufficient conformational search to calculate an incorrect free-energy profile. To achieve a sufficient conformational search, several enhanced sampling methods have been developed and elucidated the membrane permeation process. In addition to these enhanced sampling methods, we proposed a simple yet powerful free-energy calculation of a compound for the membrane permeation process based on originally rare-event sampling methods developed by us. Our methods have a weak dependency on external biases and their optimizations to promote the membrane permeation process. Based on distributed computing, our methods only require the selection of initial structures and their conformational resampling, whereas the enhanced sampling methods may be required to adjust external biases. Furthermore, our methods efficiently search membrane permeation processes with simple scripts without modifying any MD program. As demonstrations, we calculated the free-energy profiles of seven linear compounds for their membrane permeation based on a hybrid conformational search using two rare-event sampling methods, that is, (1) parallel cascade selection MD (PaCS-MD) and (2) outlier flooding method (OFLOOD), combined with a Markov state model (MSM) construction. In the first step, PaCS-MD generated initial membrane permeation paths of a compound. In the second step, OFLOOD expanded the unsearched conformational area around the initial paths, allowing for a broad conformational search. Finally, the trajectories were employed to construct reliable MSMs, enabling correct free-energy profile calculations. Furthermore, we estimated the membrane permeability coefficients of all compounds by constructing the reliable MSMs for their membrane permeation. In conclusion, the calculated coefficients were qualitatively correlated with the experimental measurements (correlation coefficient (R2) = 0.8689), indicating that the hybrid conformational search successfully calculated the free-energy profiles and membrane permeability coefficients of the seven compounds.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ryuhei Harada
- Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki305-8577, Japan
| | - Rikuri Morita
- Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki305-8577, Japan
| | - Yasuteru Shigeta
- Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki305-8577, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Siemons N, Pearce D, Cendra C, Yu H, Tuladhar SM, Hallani RK, Sheelamanthula R, LeCroy GS, Siemons L, White AJP, McCulloch I, Salleo A, Frost JM, Giovannitti A, Nelson J. Impact of Side-Chain Hydrophilicity on Packing, Swelling, and Ion Interactions in Oxy-Bithiophene Semiconductors. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2022; 34:e2204258. [PMID: 35946142 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202204258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Revised: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Exchanging hydrophobic alkyl-based side chains to hydrophilic glycol-based side chains is a widely adopted method for improving mixed-transport device performance, despite the impact on solid-state packing and polymer-electrolyte interactions being poorly understood. Presented here is a molecular dynamics (MD) force field for modeling alkoxylated and glycolated polythiophenes. The force field is validated against known packing motifs for their monomer crystals. MD simulations, coupled with X-ray diffraction (XRD), show that alkoxylated polythiophenes will pack with a "tilted stack" and straight interdigitating side chains, whilst their glycolated counterpart will pack with a "deflected stack" and an s-bend side-chain configuration. MD simulations reveal water penetration pathways into the alkoxylated and glycolated crystals-through the π-stack and through the lamellar stack respectively. Finally, the two distinct ways triethylene glycol polymers can bind to cations are revealed, showing the formation of a metastable single bound state, or an energetically deep double bound state, both with a strong side-chain length dependence. The minimum energy pathways for the formation of the chelates are identified, showing the physical process through which cations can bind to one or two side chains of a glycolated polythiophene, with consequences for ion transport in bithiophene semiconductors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas Siemons
- Department of Physics, Imperial College, London, Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Drew Pearce
- Department of Physics, Imperial College, London, Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Camila Cendra
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Hang Yu
- Department of Physics, Imperial College, London, Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Sachetan M Tuladhar
- Department of Physics, Imperial College, London, Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Rawad K Hallani
- Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, KAUST Solar Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rajendar Sheelamanthula
- Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, KAUST Solar Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955, Saudi Arabia
| | - Garrett S LeCroy
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Lucas Siemons
- Structural biology of cells and viruses laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London, NW1 1AT, UK
| | - Andrew J P White
- Chemical Crystallography Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London White City Campus, 82 Wood Lane, London, W12 0BZ, UK
| | - Iain McCulloch
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 2JD, UK
| | - Alberto Salleo
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Jarvist M Frost
- Department of Physics, Imperial College, London, Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Alexander Giovannitti
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Jenny Nelson
- Department of Physics, Imperial College, London, Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Pauly T, Bolakhrif N, Kaiser J, Nagel-Steger L, Gremer L, Gohlke H, Willbold D. Met/Val129 polymorphism of the full-length human prion protein dictates distinct pathways of amyloid formation. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:102430. [PMID: 36037966 PMCID: PMC9513279 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Methionine/valine polymorphism at position 129 of the human prion protein, huPrP, is tightly associated with the pathogenic phenotype, disease progress, and age of onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease or Fatal Familial Insomnia. This raises the question of whether and how the amino acid type at position 129 influences the structural properties of huPrP, affecting its folding, stability, and amyloid formation behavior. Here, our detailed biophysical characterization of the 129M and 129V variants of recombinant full-length huPrP(23–230) by amyloid formation kinetics, CD spectroscopy, molecular dynamics simulations, and sedimentation velocity analysis reveals differences in their aggregation propensity and oligomer content, leading to deviating pathways for the conversion into amyloid at acidic pH. We determined that the 129M variant exhibits less secondary structure content before amyloid formation and higher resistance to thermal denaturation compared to the 129V variant, whereas the amyloid conformation of both variants shows similar thermal stability. Additionally, our molecular dynamics simulations and rigidity analyses at the atomistic level identify intramolecular interactions responsible for the enhanced monomer stability of the 129M variant, involving more frequent minimum distances between E196 and R156, forming a salt bridge. Removal of the N-terminal half of the 129M full-length variant diminishes its differences compared to the 129V full-length variant and highlights the relevance of the flexible N terminus in huPrP. Taken together, our findings provide insight into structural properties of huPrP and the effects of the amino acid identity at position 129 on amyloid formation behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Pauly
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry) and JuStruct: Jülich Center of Structural Biology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Najoua Bolakhrif
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry) and JuStruct: Jülich Center of Structural Biology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Jesko Kaiser
- Institute for Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Luitgard Nagel-Steger
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry) and JuStruct: Jülich Center of Structural Biology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Lothar Gremer
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry) and JuStruct: Jülich Center of Structural Biology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Holger Gohlke
- Institute for Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG-4: Bioinformatics), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany; John von Neumann Institute for Computing (NIC), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Dieter Willbold
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry) and JuStruct: Jülich Center of Structural Biology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Ilie IM, Bacci M, Vitalis A, Caflisch A. Antibody binding modulates the dynamics of the membrane-bound prion protein. Biophys J 2022; 121:2813-2825. [PMID: 35672948 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2022.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2022] [Revised: 04/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Misfolding of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) is associated with lethal neurodegeneration. PrPC consists of a flexible tail (residues 23-123) and a globular domain (residues 124-231) whose C-terminal end is anchored to the cell membrane. The neurotoxic antibody POM1 and the innocuous antibody POM6 recognize the globular domain. Experimental evidence indicates that POM1 binding to PrPC emulates the influence on PrPC of the misfolded prion protein (PrPSc) while the binding of POM6 has the opposite biological response. Little is known about the potential interactions between flexible tail, globular domain, and the membrane. Here, we used atomistic simulations to investigate how these interactions are modulated by the binding of the Fab fragments of POM1 and POM6 to PrPC and by interstitial sequence truncations to the flexible tail. The simulations show that the binding of the antibodies restricts the range of orientations of the globular domain with respect to the membrane and decreases the distance between tail and membrane. Five of the six sequence truncations influence only marginally this distance and the contact patterns between tail and globular domain. The only exception is a truncation coupled to a charge inversion mutation of four N-terminal residues, which increases the distance of the flexible tail from the membrane. The interactions of the flexible tail and globular domain are modulated differently by the two antibodies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ioana M Ilie
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Marco Bacci
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Vitalis
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Amedeo Caflisch
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Morante S, Botticelli S, Chiaraluce R, Consalvi V, La Penna G, Novak L, Pasquo A, Petrosino M, Proux O, Rossi G, Salina G, Stellato F. Metal Ion Binding in Wild-Type and Mutated Frataxin: A Stability Study. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:878017. [PMID: 35712353 PMCID: PMC9195147 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.878017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This work studies the stability of wild-type frataxin and some of its variants found in cancer tissues upon Co2+ binding. Although the physiologically involved metal ion in the frataxin enzymatic activity is Fe2+, as it is customarily done, Co2+ is most often used in experiments because Fe2+ is extremely unstable owing to the fast oxidation reaction Fe2+ → Fe3+. Protein stability is monitored following the conformational changes induced by Co2+ binding as measured by circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy, and melting temperature measurements. The stability ranking among the wild-type frataxin and its variants obtained in this way is confirmed by a detailed comparative analysis of the XAS spectra of the metal-protein complex at the Co K-edge. In particular, a fit to the EXAFS region of the spectrum allows positively identifying the frataxin acidic ridge as the most likely location of the metal-binding sites. Furthermore, we can explain the surprising feature emerging from a detailed analysis of the XANES region of the spectrum, showing that the longer 81-210 frataxin fragment has a smaller propensity for Co2+ binding than the shorter 90-210 one. This fact is explained by the peculiar role of the N-terminal disordered tail in modulating the protein ability to interact with the metal.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- S. Morante
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- *Correspondence: S. Morante ,
| | - S. Botticelli
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - R. Chiaraluce
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biochimiche “A. Rossi Fanelli”, Sapienza Universitá di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - V. Consalvi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biochimiche “A. Rossi Fanelli”, Sapienza Universitá di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - G. La Penna
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- CNR—Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici, Firenze, Italy
| | - L. Novak
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biochimiche “A. Rossi Fanelli”, Sapienza Universitá di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - A. Pasquo
- ENEA CR Frascati, Diagnostics and Metrology Laboratory FSN-TECFIS-DIM, Frascati, Italy
| | - M. Petrosino
- Chair of Pharmacology, Section of Medicine, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - O. Proux
- Observatoire des Sciences de L’Univers de Grenoble, UAR 832 CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - G. Rossi
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, Roma, Italy
| | - G. Salina
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - F. Stellato
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Botticelli S, La Penna G, Nobili G, Rossi G, Stellato F, Morante S. Modelling Protein Plasticity: The Example of Frataxin and Its Variants. Molecules 2022; 27:1955. [PMID: 35335316 PMCID: PMC8950120 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27061955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 03/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Frataxin (FXN) is a protein involved in storage and delivery of iron in the mitochondria. Single-point mutations in the FXN gene lead to reduced production of functional frataxin, with the consequent dyshomeostasis of iron. FXN variants are at the basis of neurological impairment (the Friedreich's ataxia) and several types of cancer. By using altruistic metadynamics in conjunction with the maximal constrained entropy principle, we estimate the change of free energy in the protein unfolding of frataxin and of some of its pathological mutants. The sampled configurations highlight differences between the wild-type and mutated sequences in the stability of the folded state. In partial agreement with thermodynamic experiments, where most of the analyzed variants are characterized by lower thermal stability compared to wild type, the D104G variant is found with a stability comparable to the wild-type sequence and a lower water-accessible surface area. These observations, obtained with the new approach we propose in our work, point to a functional switch, affected by single-point mutations, of frataxin from iron storage to iron release. The method is suitable to investigate wide structural changes in proteins in general, after a proper tuning of the chosen collective variable used to perform the transition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Simone Botticelli
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, INFN, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; (S.B.); (G.N.); (G.R.); (F.S.); (S.M.)
| | - Giovanni La Penna
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, INFN, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; (S.B.); (G.N.); (G.R.); (F.S.); (S.M.)
- Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Madonna del Piano 10, I-50019 Firenze, Italy
| | - Germano Nobili
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, INFN, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; (S.B.); (G.N.); (G.R.); (F.S.); (S.M.)
| | - Giancarlo Rossi
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, INFN, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; (S.B.); (G.N.); (G.R.); (F.S.); (S.M.)
- Centro Fermi—Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, I-00184 Roma, Italy
| | - Francesco Stellato
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, INFN, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; (S.B.); (G.N.); (G.R.); (F.S.); (S.M.)
- Centro Fermi—Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, I-00184 Roma, Italy
| | - Silvia Morante
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, INFN, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; (S.B.); (G.N.); (G.R.); (F.S.); (S.M.)
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Aida H, Shigeta Y, Harada R. Ligand Binding Path Sampling Based on Parallel Cascade Selection Molecular Dynamics: LB-PaCS-MD. MATERIALS 2022; 15:ma15041490. [PMID: 35208030 PMCID: PMC8878848 DOI: 10.3390/ma15041490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2021] [Revised: 02/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Parallel cascade selection molecular dynamics (PaCS-MD) is a rare-event sampling method that generates transition pathways between a reactant and product. To sample the transition pathways, PaCS-MD repeats short-time MD simulations from important configurations as conformational resampling cycles. In this study, PaCS-MD was extended to sample ligand binding pathways toward a target protein, which is referred to as LB-PaCS-MD. In a ligand-concentrated environment, where multiple ligand copies are randomly arranged around the target protein, LB-PaCS-MD allows for the frequent sampling of ligand binding pathways. To select the important configurations, we specified the center of mass (COM) distance between each ligand and the relevant binding site of the target protein, where snapshots generated by the short-time MD simulations were ranked by their COM distance values. From each cycle, snapshots with smaller COM distance values were selected as the important configurations to be resampled using the short-time MD simulations. By repeating conformational resampling cycles, the COM distance values gradually decreased and converged to constants, meaning that a set of ligand binding pathways toward the target protein was sampled by LB-PaCS-MD. To demonstrate relative efficiency, LB-PaCS-MD was applied to several proteins, and their ligand binding pathways were sampled more frequently than conventional MD simulations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hayato Aida
- Graduate School of Science and Technology, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8577, Japan;
| | - Yasuteru Shigeta
- Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8577, Japan;
| | - Ryuhei Harada
- Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8577, Japan;
- Correspondence:
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Yasuda T, Morita R, Shigeta Y, Harada R. Independent Nontargeted Parallel Cascade Selection Molecular Dynamics (Ino-PaCS-MD) to Enhance the Conformational Sampling of Proteins. J Chem Theory Comput 2021; 17:5933-5943. [PMID: 34410106 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Biological functions are related to long-time protein dynamics (rare events) that are induced over microseconds. Such protein dynamics can be investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. However, the detection of rare events remains challenging using conventional MD (cMD) since the accessible timescales of cMD are shorter than those of the biological functions. Recently, the parallel cascade selection MD (PaCS-MD) has been proposed to detect such rare events, wherein transition paths are generated between a given reactant and product. As an extension, the nontargeted PaCS-MD (nt-PaCS-MD) has been proposed to predict the transition paths without requiring reference to any product. Thus, as a further extension, we herein propose independent nt-PaCS-MD, namely, Ino-PaCS-MD, wherein multiple walkers are launched from a set of different starting configurations. Each walker repeats a cycle of restarting short-time MD simulations from configurations with high potentials for making transitions to neighboring metastable states. To further enhance the sampling ability, Ino-PaCS-MD temporarily stops the conformational search and periodically resets the starting configurations so that they are uniformly distributed in a conformational subspace, thereby preventing a given protein from being trapped in one of the metastable states. As a demonstration, Ino-PaCS-MD successfully detects rare events of a maltose-binding protein as open-close transitions with a nanosecond-order simulation time, although a microsecond-order cMD simulation failed to detect these rare events, showing the high sampling efficiency of Ino-PaCS-MD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Takunori Yasuda
- College of Biological Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0821, Japan
| | - Rikuri Morita
- Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
| | - Yasuteru Shigeta
- Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
| | - Ryuhei Harada
- Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Palaniappan C, Narayanan RC, Sekar K. Mutation-Dependent Refolding of Prion Protein Unveils Amyloidogenic-Related Structural Ramifications: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulations. ACS Chem Neurosci 2021; 12:2810-2819. [PMID: 34296847 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.1c00142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The main focus of prion structural biology studies is to understand the molecular basis of prion diseases caused by misfolding, and aggregation of the cellular prion protein PrPC remains elusive. Several genetic mutations are linked with human prion diseases and driven by the conformational conversion of PrPC to the toxic PrPSc. The main goal of this study is to gain a better insight into the molecular effect of disease-associated V210I mutation on this process by molecular dynamics simulations. This inherited mutation elicited copious structural changes in the β1-α1-β2 subdomain, including an unfolding of a helix α1 and the elongation of the β-sheet. These unusual structural changes likely appeared to detach the β1-α1-β2 subdomain from the α2-α3 core, an early misfolding event necessary for the conformational conversion of PrPC to PrPSc. Ultimately, the unfolded α1 and its prior β1-α1 loop further engaged with unrestrained conformational dynamics and were widely considered as amyloidogenic-inducing traits. Furthermore, the resulting folding intermediate possesses a highly unstable β1-α1-β2 subdomain, thereby enhancing the aggregation of misfolded PrPC through intermolecular interactions between frequently refolding regions. Briefly, these remarkable changes as seen in the mutant β1-α1-β2 subdomain are consistent with previous experimental results and thus provide a molecular basis of PrPC misfolding associated with the conformational conversion of PrPC to PrPSc.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Rahul C. Narayanan
- Department of Computational and Data Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India
| | - Kanagaraj Sekar
- Department of Computational and Data Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Volatile Anesthetic Sevoflurane Precursor 1,1,1,3,3,3-Hexafluoro-2-Propanol (HFIP) Exerts an Anti-Prion Activity in Prion-Infected Culture Cells. Neurochem Res 2021; 46:2056-2065. [PMID: 34043140 PMCID: PMC8254714 DOI: 10.1007/s11064-021-03344-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Prion disease is a neurodegenerative disorder with progressive neurologic symptoms and accelerated cognitive decline. The causative protein of prion disease is the prion protein (PrP), and structural transition of PrP from the normal helix rich form (PrPC) to the abnormal β-sheet rich form (PrPSc) occurs in prion disease. While so far numerous therapeutic agents for prion diseases have been developed, none of them are still useful. A fluorinated alcohol, hexafluoro isopropanol (HFIP), is a precursor to the inhalational anesthetic sevoflurane and its metabolites. HFIP is also known as a robust α-helix inducer and is widely used as a solvent for highly aggregated peptides. Here we show that the α-helix-inducing activity of HFIP caused the conformational transformation of the fibrous structure of PrP into amorphous aggregates in vitro. HFIP added to the ScN2a cell medium, which continuously expresses PrPSc, reduced PrPSc protease resistance after 24-h incubation. It was also clarified that ScN2a cells are more susceptible to HFIP than any of the cells being compared. Based on these findings, HFIP is expected to develop as a therapeutic agent for prion disease.
Collapse
|
13
|
Prabakaran R, Rawat P, Thangakani AM, Kumar S, Gromiha MM. Protein aggregation: in silico algorithms and applications. Biophys Rev 2021; 13:71-89. [PMID: 33747245 PMCID: PMC7930180 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-021-00778-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2020] [Accepted: 01/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Protein aggregation is a topic of immense interest to the scientific community due to its role in several neurodegenerative diseases/disorders and industrial importance. Several in silico techniques, tools, and algorithms have been developed to predict aggregation in proteins and understand the aggregation mechanisms. This review attempts to provide an essence of the vast developments in in silico approaches, resources available, and future perspectives. It reviews aggregation-related databases, mechanistic models (aggregation-prone region and aggregation propensity prediction), kinetic models (aggregation rate prediction), and molecular dynamics studies related to aggregation. With a multitude of prediction models related to aggregation already available to the scientific community, the field of protein aggregation is rapidly maturing to tackle new applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R. Prabakaran
- Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu India
| | - Puneet Rawat
- Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu India
| | - A. Mary Thangakani
- Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu India
| | - Sandeep Kumar
- Biotherapeutics Discovery, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical Inc., Ridgefield, CT USA
| | - M. Michael Gromiha
- Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu India
- School of Computing, Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Theoretical and computational advances in protein misfolding. ADVANCES IN PROTEIN CHEMISTRY AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY 2020; 118:1-31. [PMID: 31928722 DOI: 10.1016/bs.apcsb.2019.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
Abstract
Misfolded proteins escape the cellular quality control mechanism and fail to fold properly or remain correctly folded leading to a loss in their functional specificity. Thus misfolding of proteins cause a large number of very different diseases ranging from errors in metabolism to various types of complex neurodegenerative diseases. A theoretical and computational perspective of protein misfolding is presented with a special emphasis on its salient features, mechanism and consequences. These insights quantitatively analyze different determinants of misfolding, that may be applied to design disease specific molecular targets.
Collapse
|
15
|
Wille H, Dorosh L, Amidian S, Schmitt-Ulms G, Stepanova M. Combining molecular dynamics simulations and experimental analyses in protein misfolding. ADVANCES IN PROTEIN CHEMISTRY AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY 2020; 118:33-110. [PMID: 31928730 DOI: 10.1016/bs.apcsb.2019.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The fold of a protein determines its function and its misfolding can result in loss-of-function defects. In addition, for certain proteins their misfolding can lead to gain-of-function toxicities resulting in protein misfolding diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or the prion diseases. In all of these diseases one or more proteins misfold and aggregate into disease-specific assemblies, often in the form of fibrillar amyloid deposits. Most, if not all, protein misfolding diseases share a fundamental molecular mechanism that governs the misfolding and subsequent aggregation. A wide variety of experimental methods have contributed to our knowledge about misfolded protein aggregates, some of which are briefly described in this review. The misfolding mechanism itself is difficult to investigate, as the necessary timescale and resolution of the misfolding events often lie outside of the observable parameter space. Molecular dynamics simulations fill this gap by virtue of their intrinsic, molecular perspective and the step-by-step iterative process that forms the basis of the simulations. This review focuses on molecular dynamics simulations and how they combine with experimental analyses to provide detailed insights into protein misfolding and the ensuing diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Holger Wille
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Lyudmyla Dorosh
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Sara Amidian
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Gerold Schmitt-Ulms
- Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Maria Stepanova
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Mondal B, Reddy G. A Transient Intermediate Populated in Prion Folding Leads to Domain Swapping. Biochemistry 2019; 59:114-124. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.9b00621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Balaka Mondal
- Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka India, 560012
| | - Govardhan Reddy
- Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka India, 560012
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Rigoli M, Spagnolli G, Faccioli P, Requena JR, Biasini E. Ok Google, how could I design therapeutics against prion diseases? Curr Opin Pharmacol 2019; 44:39-45. [PMID: 31059982 DOI: 10.1016/j.coph.2019.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2019] [Revised: 03/27/2019] [Accepted: 03/29/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
A number of previous successful attempts in the search for therapeutics for a variety of human pathologies highlight the importance of computational technologies in the drug discovery pipeline. This approach, often referred to as computer-aided drug design, is unfortunately inapplicable when the precise information regarding the three-dimensional structure of disease-associated proteins or the mechanism by which they are altered to generate misfolded isoforms are missing. A typical example is represented by prion diseases, fatal pathologies of the nervous system characterized by the conformational conversion of a physiological protein called PrPC into a misfolded and infectious isoform referred to as PrPSc. Missing information regarding the atomic structure of PrPSc as well as the mechanism of templated conversion of PrPC has severely halted the discovery of effective therapies for prion diseases. In this manuscript, we review emerging opportunities to apply computer-aided techniques to target PrPC, PrPSc or to design inhibitors of prion replication, and discuss how these fast-evolving technologies could lay the groundwork for the application of entirely novel rational drug design schemes for these devastating pathologies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marta Rigoli
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Giovanni Spagnolli
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | | | - Jesús R Requena
- CIMUS Biomedical Research Institute, University of Santiago de Compostela-IDIS, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Department of Medical Sciences, University of Santiago de Compostela-IDIS, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Emiliano Biasini
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Understanding the Exceptional Properties of Nitroacetamides in Water: A Computational Model Including the Solvent. Molecules 2018; 23:molecules23123308. [PMID: 30551625 PMCID: PMC6320899 DOI: 10.3390/molecules23123308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2018] [Revised: 12/07/2018] [Accepted: 12/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Proton transfer in water involving C–H bonds is a challenge and nitro compounds have been studied for many years as good examples. The effect of substituents on acidity of protons geminal to the nitro group is exploited here with new pKa measurements and electronic structure models, the latter including explicit water environment. Substituents with the amide moiety display an exceptional combination of acidity and solubility in water. In order to find a rationale for the unexpected pKa changes in the (ZZ′)NCO- substituents, we measured and modeled the pKa with Z=Z′=H and Z=Z′=methyl. The dominant contribution to the observed pKa can be understood with advanced computational experiments, where the geminal proton is smoothly moved to the solvent bath. These models, mostly based on density-functional theory (DFT), include the explicit solvent (water) and statistical thermal fluctuations. As a first approximation, the change of pKa can be correlated with the average energy difference between the two tautomeric forms (aci and nitro, respectively). The contribution of the solvent molecules interacting with the solute to the proton transfer mechanism is made evident.
Collapse
|
19
|
Haldar S, Comitani F, Saladino G, Woods C, van der Kamp MW, Mulholland AJ, Gervasio FL. A Multiscale Simulation Approach to Modeling Drug-Protein Binding Kinetics. J Chem Theory Comput 2018; 14:6093-6101. [PMID: 30208708 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.8b00687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Drug-target binding kinetics has recently emerged as a sometimes critical determinant of in vivo efficacy and toxicity. Its rational optimization to improve potency or reduce side effects of drugs is, however, extremely difficult. Molecular simulations can play a crucial role in identifying features and properties of small ligands and their protein targets affecting the binding kinetics, but significant challenges include the long time scales involved in (un)binding events and the limited accuracy of empirical atomistic force fields (lacking, e.g., changes in electronic polarization). In an effort to overcome these hurdles, we propose a method that combines state-of-the-art enhanced sampling simulations and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations at the BLYP/VDZ level to compute association free energy profiles and characterize the binding kinetics in terms of structure and dynamics of the transition state ensemble. We test our combined approach on the binding of the anticancer drug Imatinib to Src kinase, a well-characterized target for cancer therapy with a complex binding mechanism involving significant conformational changes. The results indicate significant changes in polarization along the binding pathways, which affect the predicted binding kinetics. This is likely to be of widespread importance in binding of ligands to protein targets.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Susanta Haldar
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry , University of Bristol , Bristol , BS8 1TS , United Kingdom
| | | | | | - Christopher Woods
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry , University of Bristol , Bristol , BS8 1TS , United Kingdom
| | - Marc W van der Kamp
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry , University of Bristol , Bristol , BS8 1TS , United Kingdom
- School of Biochemistry , University of Bristol , Bristol , BS8 1TD , United Kingdom
| | - Adrian J Mulholland
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry , University of Bristol , Bristol , BS8 1TS , United Kingdom
| | | |
Collapse
|
20
|
Zheng Z, Zhang M, Wang Y, Ma R, Guo C, Feng L, Wu J, Yao H, Lin D. Structural basis for the complete resistance of the human prion protein mutant G127V to prion disease. Sci Rep 2018; 8:13211. [PMID: 30181558 PMCID: PMC6123418 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31394-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2017] [Accepted: 08/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are caused by the propagation of misfolded cellular prion proteins (PrPs). A completely prion disease-resistant genotype, V127M129, has been identified in Papua New Guinea and verified in transgenic mice. To disclose the structural basis of the disease-resistant effect of the G127V mutant, we determined and compared the structural and dynamic features of the G127V-mutated human PrP (residues 91-231) and the wild-type PrP in solution. HuPrP(G127V) contains α1, α2 and α3 helices and a stretch-strand (SS) pattern comprising residues Tyr128-Gly131 (SS1) and Val161-Arg164 (SS2), with extending atomic distances between the SS1 and SS2 strands, and a structural rearrangement of the Tyr128 side chain due to steric hindrance of the larger hydrophobic side chain of Val127. The extended α1 helix gets closer to the α2 and α3 helices. NMR dynamics analysis revealed that Tyr128, Gly131 and Tyr163 underwent significant conformational exchanges. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that HuPrP(G127V) prevents the formation of stable β-sheets and dimers. Unique structural and dynamic features potentially inhibit the conformational conversion of the G127V mutant. This work is beneficial for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the complete resistance of the G127V mutant to prion disease and for developing new therapeutics for prion disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Zheng
- MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis & Instrumentation, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China
| | - Meilan Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis & Instrumentation, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China
| | - Yongheng Wang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Rongsheng Ma
- School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China
| | - Chenyun Guo
- MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis & Instrumentation, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China
| | - Liubin Feng
- MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis & Instrumentation, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China
| | - Jihui Wu
- School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China
| | - Hongwei Yao
- MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis & Instrumentation, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China
| | - Donghai Lin
- MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis & Instrumentation, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China.
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Sicard F, Bui T, Monteiro D, Lan Q, Ceglio M, Burress C, Striolo A. Emergent Properties of Antiagglomerant Films Control Methane Transport: Implications for Hydrate Management. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2018; 34:9701-9710. [PMID: 30058809 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b01366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The relationship between collective properties and performance of antiagglomerants (AAs) used in hydrate management is handled using molecular dynamics simulations and enhanced sampling techniques. A thin film of AAs adsorbed at the interface between one flat sII methane hydrate substrate and a fluid hydrocarbon mixture containing methane and n-dodecane is studied. The AA considered is a surface-active compound with a complex hydrophilic head that contains both amide and tertiary ammonium cation groups and hydrophobic tails. At a sufficiently high AA density, the interplay between the surfactant layer and the liquid hydrocarbon excludes methane from the interfacial region. In this scenario, we combine metadynamics and umbrella sampling frameworks to study accurately the free-energy landscape and the equilibrium rates associated with the transport of one methane molecule across the AA film. We observe that the local configurational changes of the liquid hydrocarbon packed within the AA film are associated with high free-energy barriers for methane transport. The time scales estimated for the transport of methane across the AA film can be, in some cases, comparable to those reported in the literature for the growth of hydrates, suggesting that one possible mechanism by which AAs delay the formation of hydrate plugs could be providing a barrier to methane transport. Considering the interplay between the structural design and collective properties of AAs might be of relevance to improve their performance in flow assurance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- François Sicard
- Department of Chemical Engineering , University College London , WC1E 7JE London , U.K
| | - Tai Bui
- Department of Chemical Engineering , University College London , WC1E 7JE London , U.K
| | | | - Qiang Lan
- Halliburton , Houston , 77032 Texas , United States
| | - Mark Ceglio
- Halliburton , Houston , 77032 Texas , United States
| | | | - Alberto Striolo
- Department of Chemical Engineering , University College London , WC1E 7JE London , U.K
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Gao Y, Zhu T, Zhang C, Zhang JZ, Mei Y. Comparison of the unfolding and oligomerization of human prion protein under acidic and neutral environments by molecular dynamics simulations. Chem Phys Lett 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2018.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
|
23
|
Pham DQH, Li MS, La Penna G. Copper Binding Induces Polymorphism in Amyloid-β Peptide: Results of Computational Models. J Phys Chem B 2018; 122:7243-7252. [PMID: 29957993 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b03983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides are intrinsically disordered peptides, and their aggregation is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease development. The propensity of the Aβ peptide to intermolecular interactions, the latter favoring different types of oligomers and aggregated forms, has been the object of a huge number of studies. Several facts are now established: the presence of large amount of d-block (M) ions (Zn, Cu, and Fe) in the aggregated forms; the 1:1 M/Aβ ratio favors the formation of amorphous aggregates, with an aggregation rate lower than that in the absence of such ions. In particular, statistical models describing the interactions between copper and amyloid peptides are mandatory to explain the relationship between neurodegeneration, copper dyshomeostasis, and overproduction of reactive oxygen species, the latter event occurring with aging. In this work, we show, by replica-exchange molecular dynamics simulations, that a copper ion (Cu2+) bound as in the experimentally observed prevailing coordination enhances the probability of closed structures that hinder the formation of extended intermolecular hydrogen bonds that stabilize fibrillar ordered aggregated forms. On the other hand, this effect enhances the catalytic role of the complex during the lifetime of soluble forms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dinh Quoc Huy Pham
- Institute of Physics , Polish Academy of Sciences , Al. Lotnikow 32/46 , 02-668 Warsaw , Poland.,Institute for Computational Science and Technology , 6 Quarter, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City 700000 , Vietnam
| | - Mai Suan Li
- Institute of Physics , Polish Academy of Sciences , Al. Lotnikow 32/46 , 02-668 Warsaw , Poland
| | - Giovanni La Penna
- National Research Council Italy (CNR), Institute for Chemistry of Organometallic Compounds (ICCOM) , 50019 Florence , Italy.,Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Section of Roma-Tor Vergata , Rome 00133 , Italy
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Lima AN, de Oliveira RJ, Braz ASK, de Souza Costa MG, Perahia D, Scott LPB. Effects of pH and aggregation in the human prion conversion into scrapie form: a study using molecular dynamics with excited normal modes. EUROPEAN BIOPHYSICS JOURNAL: EBJ 2018; 47:583-590. [PMID: 29546436 DOI: 10.1007/s00249-018-1292-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2017] [Revised: 02/19/2018] [Accepted: 03/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
There are two different prion conformations: (1) the cellular natural (PrPC) and (2) the scrapie (PrPSc), an infectious form that tends to aggregate under specific conditions. PrPC and PrPSc are widely different regarding secondary and tertiary structures. PrPSc contains more and longer β-strands compared to PrPC. The lack of solved PrPSc structures precludes a proper understanding of the mechanisms related to the transition between cellular and scrapie forms, as well as the aggregation process. In order to investigate the conformational transition between PrPC and PrPSc, we applied MDeNM (molecular dynamics with excited normal modes), an enhanced sampling simulation technique that has been recently developed to probe large structural changes. These simulations yielded new structural rearrangements of the cellular prion that would have been difficult to obtain with standard MD simulations. We observed an increase in β-sheet formation under low pH (≤ 4) and upon oligomerization, whose relevance was discussed on the basis of the energy landscape theory for protein folding. The characterization of intermediate structures corresponding to transition states allowed us to propose a conversion model from the cellular to the scrapie prion, which possibly ignites the fibril formation. This model can assist the design of new drugs to prevent neurological disorders related to the prion aggregation mechanism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Angelica Nakagawa Lima
- Laboratório de Biologia Computacional e Bioinformática, Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo André, SP, Brazil
- Laboratório de Biofísica Teórica, Departamento de Física, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Naturais e Educação, Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro, Uberaba, MG, Brazil
| | - Ronaldo Junio de Oliveira
- Laboratório de Biofísica Teórica, Departamento de Física, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Naturais e Educação, Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro, Uberaba, MG, Brazil
| | - Antônio Sérgio Kimus Braz
- Laboratório de Biologia Computacional e Bioinformática, Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo André, SP, Brazil
| | | | - David Perahia
- Laboratorie de Biologie et Pharmacologie Appliquée, Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, Cachan, France
| | - Luis Paulo Barbour Scott
- Laboratório de Biologia Computacional e Bioinformática, Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo André, SP, Brazil.
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Preto J, Gentile F, Winter P, Churchill C, Omar SI, Tuszynski JA. Molecular Dynamics and Related Computational Methods with Applications to Drug Discovery. SPRINGER PROCEEDINGS IN MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-76599-0_14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
|
26
|
Harada R, Shigeta Y. Self-Avoiding Conformational Sampling Based on Histories of Past Conformational Searches. J Chem Inf Model 2017; 57:3070-3078. [PMID: 29111731 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.7b00573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Self-avoiding conformational sampling (SACS) is proposed as an enhanced conformational sampling method for proteins. In SACS, the following conformational resampling is repeated for a given protein: (1) identification of newly visited states in a subspace and (2) conformational resampling by restarting short-time molecular dynamics (MD) simulations from the newly visited states. To identify the newly visited states, a set of history-dependent histograms projected onto the subspace is used. One is constructed from the trajectories sampled at the current (ith) cycle, and the other is constructed from all of the trajectories accumulated up through the previous ((i - 1)th) cycle. By reference to the history-dependent histograms, the newly visited states appearing at the current (ith) cycle are defined as a difference set between them. By repeating the cycle of conformational resampling, SACS prevents the system from revisiting states that have already been visited for previous cycles, promoting structural transitions via resampling from the newly visited states. To verify the conformational sampling efficiency of SACS, the present method was applied to reveal underlying mechanisms of biologically important domain motions of maltodextrin binding protein in explicit water and successfully reproduced the open-closed transition with a reasonable (nanosecond-order) computational cost.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ryuhei Harada
- Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba , 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
| | - Yasuteru Shigeta
- Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba , 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Liu X, Shi D, Zhou S, Liu H, Liu H, Yao X. Molecular dynamics simulations and novel drug discovery. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2017; 13:23-37. [DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2018.1403419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Xuewei Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry and Department of Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Danfeng Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry and Department of Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | | | - Hongli Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Huanxiang Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Xiaojun Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry and Department of Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Abstract
Protein sequences are evolved to encode generally one folded structure, out of a nearly infinite array of possible folds. Underlying this code is a funneled free energy landscape that guides folding to the native conformation. Protein misfolding and aggregation are also a manifestation of free-energy landscapes. The detailed mechanisms of these processes are poorly understood, but often involve rare, transient species and a variety of different pathways. The inherent complexity of misfolding has hampered efforts to measure aggregation pathways and the underlying energy landscape, especially using traditional methods where ensemble averaging obscures important rare and transient events. We recently studied the misfolding and aggregation of prion protein by examining 2 monomers tethered in close proximity as a dimer, showing how the steps leading to the formation of a stable aggregated state can be resolved in the single-molecule limit and the underlying energy landscape thereby reconstructed. This approach allows a more quantitative comparison of native folding versus misfolding, including fundamental differences in the dynamics for misfolding. By identifying key steps and interactions leading to misfolding, it should help to identify potential drug targets. Here we describe the importance of characterizing free-energy landscapes for aggregation and the challenges involved in doing so, and we discuss how single-molecule studies can help test proposed structural models for PrP aggregates.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Derek R Dee
- a Department of Physics , University of Alberta , Edmonton , AB , Canada
| | - Michael T Woodside
- a Department of Physics , University of Alberta , Edmonton , AB , Canada;,b National Institute for Nanotechnology, National Research Council , Edmonton , AB , Canada
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Pagadala NS, Syed K, Bhat R. In silico strategies on prion pathogenic conversion and inhibition from PrPC–PrPSc. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2017; 12:241-248. [DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2017.1287171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Nataraj S. Pagadala
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, 6-020 Katz Group Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Khajamohiddin Syed
- Unit for Drug Discovery Research, Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein, South Africa
| | - Rakesh Bhat
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, 6-020 Katz Group Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Chamachi NG, Chakrabarty S. Temperature-Induced Misfolding in Prion Protein: Evidence of Multiple Partially Disordered States Stabilized by Non-Native Hydrogen Bonds. Biochemistry 2017; 56:833-844. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.6b01042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Neharika G. Chamachi
- Physical and Materials Chemistry
Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune 411008, India
| | - Suman Chakrabarty
- Physical and Materials Chemistry
Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune 411008, India
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Paz SA, Vanden-Eijnden E, Abrams CF. Polymorphism at 129 dictates metastable conformations of the human prion protein N-terminal β-sheet. Chem Sci 2017; 8:1225-1232. [PMID: 28451263 PMCID: PMC5369536 DOI: 10.1039/c6sc03275c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2016] [Accepted: 09/30/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
We study the thermodynamic stability of the native state of the human prion protein using a new free-energy method, replica-exchange on-the-fly parameterization. This method is designed to overcome hidden-variable sampling limitations to yield nearly error-free free-energy profiles along a conformational coordinate. We confirm that all four (M129V, D178N) polymorphs have a ground-state conformation with three intact β-sheet hydrogen bonds. Additionally, they are observed to have distinct metastabilities determined by the side-chain at position 129. We rationalize these findings with reference to the prion "strain" hypothesis, which links the variety of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy phenotypes to conformationally distinct infectious prion forms and classifies distinct phenotypes of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease based solely on the 129 polymorphism. Because such metastable structures are not easily observed in structural experiments, our approach could potentially provide new insights into the conformational origins of prion diseases and other pathologies arising from protein misfolding and aggregation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- S Alexis Paz
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering , Drexel University , Philadelphia , PA 19104 , USA .
| | - Eric Vanden-Eijnden
- Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences , New York University , New York , NY 10012 , USA
| | - Cameron F Abrams
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering , Drexel University , Philadelphia , PA 19104 , USA .
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Singh RK, Chamachi NG, Chakrabarty S, Mukherjee A. Mechanism of Unfolding of Human Prion Protein. J Phys Chem B 2017; 121:550-564. [PMID: 28030950 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b11416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Misfolding and aggregation of prion proteins are associated with several neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of the misfolding process is of enormous interest in the scientific community. It has been speculated and widely discussed that the native cellular prion protein (PrPC) form needs to undergo substantial unfolding to a more stable PrPC* state, which may further oligomerize into the toxic scrapie (PrPSc) form. Here, we have studied the mechanism of the unfolding of the human prion protein (huPrP) using a set of extensive well-tempered metadynamics simulations. Through multiple microsecond-long metadynamics simulations, we find several possible unfolding pathways. We show that each pathway leads to an unfolded state of lower free energy than the native state. Thus, our study may point to the signature of a PrPC* form that corresponds to a global minimum on the conformational free-energy landscape. Moreover, we find that these global minima states do not involve an increased β-sheet content, as was assumed to be a signature of PrPSc formation in previous simulation studies. We have further analyzed the origin of metastability of the PrPC form through free-energy surfaces of the chopped helical segments to show that the helices, particularly H2 and H3 of the prion protein, have the tendency to form either a random coil or a β-structure. Therefore, the secondary structural elements of the prion protein are only weakly stabilized by tertiary contacts and solvation forces so that relatively weak perturbations induced by temperature, pressure, pH, and so forth can lead to substantial unfolding with characteristics of intrinsically disordered proteins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Reman K Singh
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research , Pune 411008, Maharashtra, India
| | - Neharika G Chamachi
- Physical and Materials Chemistry Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory , Pune 411008, Maharashtra, India
| | - Suman Chakrabarty
- Physical and Materials Chemistry Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory , Pune 411008, Maharashtra, India
| | - Arnab Mukherjee
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research , Pune 411008, Maharashtra, India
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Zheng L, Lin VC, Mu Y. Exploring Flexibility of Progesterone Receptor Ligand Binding Domain Using Molecular Dynamics. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0165824. [PMID: 27824891 PMCID: PMC5100906 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2016] [Accepted: 10/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Progesterone receptor (PR), a member of nuclear receptor (NR) superfamily, plays a vital role for female reproductive tissue development, differentiation and maintenance. PR ligand, such as progesterone, induces conformation changes in PR ligand binding domain (LBD), thus mediates subsequent gene regulation cascades. PR LBD may adopt different conformations upon an agonist or an antagonist binding. These different conformations would trigger distinct transcription events. Therefore, the dynamics of PR LBD would be of general interest to biologists for a deep understanding of its structure-function relationship. However, no apo-form (non-ligand bound) of PR LBD model has been proposed either by experiments or computational methods so far. In this study, we explored the structural dynamics of PR LBD using molecular dynamics simulations and advanced sampling tools in both ligand-bound and the apo-forms. Resolved by the simulation study, helix 11, helix 12 and loop 895–908 (the loop between these two helices) are quite flexible in antagonistic conformation. Several residues, such as Arg899 and Glu723, could form salt-bridging interaction between helix 11 and helix 3, and are important for the PR LBD dynamics. And we also propose that helix 12 in apo-form PR LBD, not like other NR LBDs, such as human estrogen receptor α (ERα) LBD, may not adopt a totally extended conformation. With the aid of umbrella sampling and metadynamics simulations, several stable conformations of apo-form PR LBD have been sampled, which may work as critical structural models for further large scale virtual screening study to discover novel PR ligands for therapeutic application.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liangzhen Zheng
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637551, Singapore
| | - Valerie Chunling Lin
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637551, Singapore
| | - Yuguang Mu
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637551, Singapore
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Bergasa-Caceres F, Rabitz HA. Macromolecular Crowding Facilitates the Conformational Transition of on-Pathway Molten Globule States of the Prion Protein. J Phys Chem B 2016; 120:11093-11101. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b05696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Herschel A. Rabitz
- Department
of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544 United States
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Chamachi NG, Chakrabarty S. Replica Exchange Molecular Dynamics Study of Dimerization in Prion Protein: Multiple Modes of Interaction and Stabilization. J Phys Chem B 2016; 120:7332-45. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b03690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Neharika G. Chamachi
- Physical and Materials Chemistry
Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune 411008, India
| | - Suman Chakrabarty
- Physical and Materials Chemistry
Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune 411008, India
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Protective V127 prion variant prevents prion disease by interrupting the formation of dimer and fibril from molecular dynamics simulations. Sci Rep 2016; 6:21804. [PMID: 26906032 PMCID: PMC4764842 DOI: 10.1038/srep21804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2015] [Accepted: 02/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies uncovered a novel protective prion protein variant: V127 variant, which was reported intrinsically resistant to prion conversion and propagation. However, the structural basis of its protective effect is still unknown. To uncover the origin of the protective role of V127 variant, molecular dynamics simulations were performed to explore the influence of G127V mutation on two key processes of prion propagation: dimerization and fibril formation. The simulation results indicate V127 variant is unfavorable to form dimer by reducing the main-chain H-bond interactions. The simulations of formed fibrils consisting of β1 strand prove V127 variant will make the formed fibril become unstable and disorder. The weaker interaction energies between layers and reduced H-bonds number for V127 variant reveal this mutation is unfavorable to the formation of stable fibril. Consequently, we find V127 variant is not only unfavorable to the formation of dimer but also unfavorable to the formation of stable core and fibril, which can explain the mechanism on the protective role of V127 variant from the molecular level. Our findings can deepen the understanding of prion disease and may guide the design of peptide mimetics or small molecule to mimic the protective effect of V127 variant.
Collapse
|
37
|
Tao W, Yoon G, Cao P, Eom K, Park HS. β-sheet-like formation during the mechanical unfolding of prion protein. J Chem Phys 2015; 143:125101. [DOI: 10.1063/1.4931819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Weiwei Tao
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA
| | - Gwonchan Yoon
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, South Korea
| | - Penghui Cao
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA
| | - Kilho Eom
- Biomechanics Laboratory, College of Sport Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, South Korea
| | - Harold S. Park
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Paz SA, Abrams CF. Free energy and hidden barriers of the β-sheet structure of prion protein. J Chem Theory Comput 2015; 11:5024-34. [PMID: 26574287 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.5b00576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
On-the-fly free-energy parametrization is a new collective variable biasing approach akin to metadynamics with one important distinction: rather than acquiring an accelerated distribution via a history-dependent bias potential, sampling on this distribution is achieved from the beginning of the simulation using temperature-accelerated molecular dynamics. In the present work, we compare the performance of both approaches to compute the free-energy profile along a scalar collective variable measuring the H-bond registry of the β-sheet structure of the mouse Prion protein. Both methods agree on the location of the free-energy minimum, but free-energy profiles from well-tempered metadynamics are subject to a much higher degree of statistical noise due to hidden barriers. The sensitivity of metadynamics to hidden barriers is shown to be a consequence of the history dependence of the bias potential, and we detail the nature of these barriers for the prion β-sheet. In contrast, on-the-fly parametrization is much less sensitive to these barriers and thus displays improved convergence behavior relative to that of metadynamics. While hidden barriers are a frequent and central issue in free-energy methods, on-the-fly free-energy parametrization appears to be a robust and preferable method to confront this issue.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- S Alexis Paz
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Cameron F Abrams
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Nasica-Labouze J, Nguyen PH, Sterpone F, Berthoumieu O, Buchete NV, Coté S, De Simone A, Doig AJ, Faller P, Garcia A, Laio A, Li MS, Melchionna S, Mousseau N, Mu Y, Paravastu A, Pasquali S, Rosenman DJ, Strodel B, Tarus B, Viles JH, Zhang T, Wang C, Derreumaux P. Amyloid β Protein and Alzheimer's Disease: When Computer Simulations Complement Experimental Studies. Chem Rev 2015; 115:3518-63. [PMID: 25789869 DOI: 10.1021/cr500638n] [Citation(s) in RCA: 475] [Impact Index Per Article: 52.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Nasica-Labouze
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Phuong H Nguyen
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Fabio Sterpone
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Olivia Berthoumieu
- ‡LCC (Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier (UPS), Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (INPT), 205 route de Narbonne, BP 44099, Toulouse F-31077 Cedex 4, France
| | | | - Sébastien Coté
- ∥Département de Physique and Groupe de recherche sur les protéines membranaires (GEPROM), Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec H3C 3T5, Canada
| | - Alfonso De Simone
- ⊥Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew J Doig
- #Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, 131 Princess Street, Manchester M1 7DN, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Faller
- ‡LCC (Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier (UPS), Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (INPT), 205 route de Narbonne, BP 44099, Toulouse F-31077 Cedex 4, France
| | | | - Alessandro Laio
- ○The International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
| | - Mai Suan Li
- ◆Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Lotnikow 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland.,¶Institute for Computational Science and Technology, SBI Building, Quang Trung Software City, Tan Chanh Hiep Ward, District 12, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Simone Melchionna
- ⬠Instituto Processi Chimico-Fisici, CNR-IPCF, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 00185 Roma, Italy
| | | | - Yuguang Mu
- ▲School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, 637551 Singapore
| | - Anant Paravastu
- ⊕National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 1800 East Paul Dirac Drive, Tallahassee, Florida 32310, United States
| | - Samuela Pasquali
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | | | - Birgit Strodel
- △Institute of Complex Systems: Structural Biochemistry (ICS-6), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Bogdan Tarus
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - John H Viles
- ▼School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom
| | - Tong Zhang
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France.,▲School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, 637551 Singapore
| | | | - Philippe Derreumaux
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France.,□Institut Universitaire de France, 75005 Paris, France
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Whitmer JK, Chiu CC, Joshi AA, de Pablo JJ. Basis function sampling: a new paradigm for material property computation. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2014; 113:190602. [PMID: 25415892 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.113.190602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Wang-Landau sampling, and the associated class of flat histogram simulation methods have been remarkably helpful for calculations of the free energy in a wide variety of physical systems. Practically, convergence of these calculations to a target free energy surface is hampered by reliance on parameters which are unknown a priori. Here, we derive and implement a method built upon orthogonal functions which is fast, parameter-free, and (importantly) geometrically robust. The method is shown to be highly effective in achieving convergence. An important feature of this method is its ability to attain arbitrary levels of description for the free energy. It is thus ideally suited to in silico measurement of elastic moduli and other material properties related to free energy perturbations. We demonstrate the utility of such applications by applying our method to calculate the Frank elastic constants of the Lebwohl-Lasher model of liquid crystals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan K Whitmer
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA and Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - Chi-cheng Chiu
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA and Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - Abhijeet A Joshi
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1691, USA
| | - Juan J de Pablo
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA and Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Furlan S, La Penna G, Appelhans D, Cangiotti M, Ottaviani MF, Danani A. Combined EPR and molecular modeling study of PPI dendrimers interacting with copper ions: effect of generation and maltose decoration. J Phys Chem B 2014; 118:12098-111. [PMID: 25247928 DOI: 10.1021/jp505420s] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the early onset of neurodegeneration is crucial to deploy specific treatments for patients before the process becomes irreversible. Copper has been proposed as a biomarker for many neurodegenerative disorders, being the ion released by pathologically unfolded proteins involved in many biochemical pathways. Dendrimers are macromolecules that bind metal ions with a large ion/ligand ratio, thus, allowing a massive collection of copper. This work provides structural information, obtained via molecular modeling and EPR, for the binding sites of copper in polypropyleneimine (PPI) dendrimers, especially in the maltose decorated form that has potential applications in diagnosis and therapies for various types of neurodegenerations. The analysis of the EPR spectra showed that, at the lowest Cu concentrations, the results are well supported by the calculations. Moreover, EPR analysis at increasing Cu(II) concentration allowed us to follow the saturation behavior of the interacting sites identified by the modeling study.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sara Furlan
- Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste , Via Giorgieri 1, I-34127 Trieste, Italy
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
42
|
Benetti F, Biarnés X, Attanasio F, Giachin G, Rizzarelli E, Legname G. Structural determinants in prion protein folding and stability. J Mol Biol 2014; 426:3796-3810. [PMID: 25280897 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2014.09.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2014] [Revised: 07/30/2014] [Accepted: 09/15/2014] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Prions are responsible for a heterogeneous group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases, involving post-translational modifications of the cellular prion protein. Epidemiological studies on Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a prototype prion disorder, show a majority of cases being sporadic, while the remaining occurrences are either genetic or iatrogenic. The molecular mechanisms by which PrP(C) is converted into its pathological isoform have not yet been established. While point mutations and seeds trigger the protein to cross the energy barriers, thus causing genetic and infectious transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, respectively, the mechanism responsible for sporadic forms remains unclear. Since prion diseases are protein-misfolding disorders, we investigated prion protein folding and stability as functions of different milieus. Using spectroscopic techniques and atomistic simulations, we dissected the contribution of major structural determinants, also defining the energy landscape of prion protein. In particular, we elucidated (i) the essential role of the octapeptide region in prion protein folding and stability, (ii) the presence of a very enthalpically stable intermediate in prion-susceptible species, and (iii) the role of the disulfide bridge in prion protein folding.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Federico Benetti
- Department of Neuroscience, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste, Italy; Italian Institute of Technology, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati Unit, Via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste, Italy
| | - Xevi Biarnés
- Department of Physics, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, I-34136 Trieste, Italy
| | - Francesco Attanasio
- National Research Council, Institute of Biostructures and Bioimaging, Viale Andrea Doria 6, I-95125 Catania, Italy
| | - Gabriele Giachin
- Department of Neuroscience, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste, Italy
| | - Enrico Rizzarelli
- National Research Council, Institute of Biostructures and Bioimaging, Viale Andrea Doria 6, I-95125 Catania, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Legname
- Department of Neuroscience, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste, Italy; Italian Institute of Technology, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati Unit, Via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste, Italy; Elettra - Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., AREA Science Park, I-34149 Basovizza Trieste, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Larsson P, Pouya I, Lindahl E. From Side Chains Rattling on Picoseconds to Ensemble Simulations of Protein Folding. Isr J Chem 2014. [DOI: 10.1002/ijch.201400020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
|
44
|
Pagadala NS, Perez-Pineiro R, Wishart DS, Tuszynski JA. In silico studies and fluorescence binding assays of potential anti-prion compounds reveal an important binding site for prion inhibition from PrP(C) to PrP(Sc). Eur J Med Chem 2014; 91:118-31. [PMID: 25042003 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2014.07.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2014] [Revised: 07/09/2014] [Accepted: 07/14/2014] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
To understand the pharmacophore properties of 2-aminothiazoles and design novel inhibitors against the prion protein, a highly predictive 3D quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) has been developed by performing comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative similarity analysis (CoMSIA). Both CoMFA and CoMSIA maps reveal the presence of the oxymethyl groups in meta and para positions on the phenyl ring of compound 17 (N-[4-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-1,3-thiazol-2-yl]quinolin-2-amine), is necessary for activity while electro-negative nitrogen of quinoline is highly favorable to enhance activity. The blind docking results for these compounds show that the compound with quinoline binds with higher affinity than isoquinoline and naphthalene groups. Out of 150 novel compounds retrieved using finger print analysis by pharmacophoric model predicted based on five test sets of compounds, five compounds with diverse scaffolds were selected for biological evaluation as possible PrP inhibitors. Molecular docking combined with fluorescence quenching studies show that these compounds bind to pocket-D of SHaPrP near Trp145. The new antiprion compounds 3 and 6, which bind with the interaction energies of -12.1 and -13.2 kcal/mol, respectively, show fluorescence quenching with binding constant (Kd) values of 15.5 and 44.14 μM, respectively. Further fluorescence binding assays with compound 5, which is similar to 2-aminothiazole as a positive control, also show that the molecule binds to the pocket-D with the binding constant (Kd) value of 84.7 μM. Finally, both molecular docking and a fluorescence binding assay of noscapine as a negative control reveals the same binding site on the surface of pocket-A near a rigid loop between β2 and α2 interacting with Arg164. This high level of correlation between molecular docking and fluorescence quenching studies confirm that these five compounds are likely to act as inhibitors for prion propagation while noscapine might act as a prion accelerator from PrP(C) to PrP(Sc).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nataraj S Pagadala
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, 6-020 Katz Group Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E1, Canada
| | - Rolando Perez-Pineiro
- Departments of Biological Sciences, and Computing Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E8, Canada
| | - David S Wishart
- Departments of Biological Sciences, and Computing Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E8, Canada
| | - Jack A Tuszynski
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2J1, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Nguyen TH, Rossetti G, Arnesano F, Ippoliti E, Natile G, Carloni P. Molecular Recognition of Platinated DNA from Chromosomal HMGB1. J Chem Theory Comput 2014; 10:3578-84. [PMID: 26588321 DOI: 10.1021/ct500402e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Cisplatin cures testicular and ovarian cancers with unprecedented potency. It induces its beneficial activity by covalently binding to DNA. Repair enzymes, which remove the platinated lesions from DNA, cause drug resistance. Chromosomal High Mobility Group Box proteins (HMGB) may interfere with this process by binding to platinated DNA. Using 8 μs multiple-walker well-tempered metadynamics simulations, here, we investigated the structural and the energetic determinants of one of the HMGB proteins (HMGB1A) in complex with the platinated oligonucleotide [Pt(NH3)2](2+)-d(CCUCTCTG*G*ACCTTCC)-d(GGAGAGACCTGGAAGG) (*G are platinated guanines), for which experimental structural information is available. The calculated affinity is in good agreement with experiment. The process is predicted to be enthalpy-driven, as found for other protein/DNA complexes. The Lys7 residue, whose side-chain was not resolved in the X-ray structure, is found to interact with the C4 5'-phosphate and this interaction emerges as a key facet for the molecular recognition process. In addition, our calculations provide a molecular basis for the experimentally measured decreased affinity of HMGB1A for platinated DNA, as a consequence of Cys22-Cys44 S-S bridge formation (such an oxidation cannot take place in some members of this protein family present in the testis, where the drug is particularly effective). This decrease is likely to be caused by a small yet significant rearrangement of helices H1 and H2 with consequent alteration of the Phe37 juxtaposition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Trung Hai Nguyen
- Computational Biophysics, German Research School for Simulation Sciences (joint venture of RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany) , D-52425 Jülich, Germany.,Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5, Computational Biomedicine, Forschungszentrum Jülich , D-52425 Jülich, Germany.,Computational Biomedicine section (INM-9), Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) , 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Giulia Rossetti
- Computational Biophysics, German Research School for Simulation Sciences (joint venture of RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany) , D-52425 Jülich, Germany.,Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5, Computational Biomedicine, Forschungszentrum Jülich , D-52425 Jülich, Germany.,Computational Biomedicine section (INM-9), Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) , 52425 Jülich, Germany.,Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), Baldiri Reixac 10, Barcelona 08028, Spain.,Joint IRB-BSC Program in Computational Biology, Barcelona, Spain.,Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Fabio Arnesano
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bari "A. Moro" , via Edoardo Orabona 4, I-70125 Bari, Italy
| | - Emiliano Ippoliti
- Computational Biophysics, German Research School for Simulation Sciences (joint venture of RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany) , D-52425 Jülich, Germany.,Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5, Computational Biomedicine, Forschungszentrum Jülich , D-52425 Jülich, Germany.,Computational Biomedicine section (INM-9), Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) , 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Giovanni Natile
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bari "A. Moro" , via Edoardo Orabona 4, I-70125 Bari, Italy
| | - Paolo Carloni
- Computational Biophysics, German Research School for Simulation Sciences (joint venture of RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany) , D-52425 Jülich, Germany.,Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5, Computational Biomedicine, Forschungszentrum Jülich , D-52425 Jülich, Germany.,Computational Biomedicine section (INM-9), Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) , 52425 Jülich, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
La Penna G, Hureau C, Faller P. Learning chemistry with multiple first-principles simulations. MOLECULAR SIMULATION 2014. [DOI: 10.1080/08927022.2014.927064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
|
47
|
Abstract
Proteins are fascinating supramolecular structures, which are able to recognize ligands transforming binding information into chemical signals. They can transfer information across the cell, can catalyse complex chemical reactions, and are able to transform energy into work with much more efficiency than any human engine. The unique abilities of proteins are tightly coupled with their dynamic properties, which are coded in a complex way in the sequence and carefully refined by evolution. Despite its importance, our experimental knowledge of protein dynamics is still rather limited, and mostly derived from theoretical calculations. I will review here, in a systematic way, the current state-of-the-art theoretical approaches to the study of protein dynamics, emphasizing the most recent advances, examples of use and the expected lines of development in the near future.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Modesto Orozco
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), Baldiri i Reixac 8, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Ray S, Bender S, Kang S, Lin R, Glicksman MA, Liu M. The Parkinson disease-linked LRRK2 protein mutation I2020T stabilizes an active state conformation leading to increased kinase activity. J Biol Chem 2014; 289:13042-53. [PMID: 24695735 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m113.537811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The effect of leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) mutation I2020T on its kinase activity has been controversial, with both increased and decreased effects being reported. We conducted steady-state and pre-steady-state kinetic studies on LRRKtide and its analog LRRKtide(S). Their phosphorylation differs by the rate-limiting steps: product release is rate-limiting for LRRKtide and phosphoryl transfer is rate-limiting for LRRKtide(S). As a result, we observed that the I2020T mutant is more active than wild type (WT) LRRK2 for LRRKtide(S) phosphorylation, whereas it is less active than WT for LRRKtide phosphorylation. Our pre-steady-state kinetic data suggest that (i) the I2020T mutant accelerates the rates of phosphoryl transfer of both reactions by 3-7-fold; (ii) this increase is masked by a rate-limiting product release step for LRRKtide phosphorylation; and (iii) the observed lower activity of the mutant for LRRKtide phosphorylation is a consequence of its instability: the concentration of the active form of the mutant is 3-fold lower than WT. The I2020T mutant has a dramatically low KATP and therefore leads to resistance to ATP competitive inhibitors. Two well known DFG-out or type II inhibitors are also weaker toward the mutant because they inhibit the mutant in an unexpected ATP competitive mechanism. The I2020 residue lies next to the DYG motif of the activation loop of the LRRK2 kinase domain. Our modeling and metadynamic simulations suggest that the I2020T mutant stabilizes the DYG-in active conformation and creates an unusual allosteric pocket that can bind type II inhibitors but in an ATP competitive fashion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Soumya Ray
- From the Laboratory for Drug Discovery in Neurodegeneration, Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center, and
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
49
|
Flexibility damps macromolecular crowding effects on protein folding dynamics: Application to the murine prion protein (121–231). Chem Phys Lett 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2013.11.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
|
50
|
A simple quantitative model of macromolecular crowding effects on protein folding: Application to the murine prion protein(121–231). Chem Phys Lett 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2013.04.056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
|