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Nowotarski MS, Potnuru LR, Straub JS, Chaklashiya R, Shimasaki T, Pahari B, Coffaro H, Jain S, Han S. Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Enhanced Multiple-Quantum Spin Counting of Molecular Assemblies in Vitrified Solutions. J Phys Chem Lett 2024; 15:7084-7094. [PMID: 38953521 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c00933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
Crystallization pathways are essential to various industrial, geological, and biological processes. In nonclassical nucleation theory, prenucleation clusters (PNCs) form, aggregate, and crystallize to produce higher order assemblies. Microscopy and X-ray techniques have limited utility for PNC analysis due to the small size (0.5-3 nm) and time stability constraints. We present a new approach for analyzing PNC formation based on 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spin counting of vitrified molecular assemblies. The use of glassing agents ensures that vitrification generates amorphous aqueous samples and offers conditions for performing dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP)-amplified NMR spectroscopy. We demonstrate that molecular adenosine triphosphate along with crystalline, amorphous, and clustered calcium phosphate materials formed via a nonclassical growth pathway can be differentiated from one another by the number of dipolar coupled 31P spins. We also present an innovative approach for examining spin counting data, demonstrating that a knowledge-based fitting of integer multiples of cosine wave functions, instead of the traditional Fourier transform, provides a more physically meaningful retrieval of the existing frequencies. This is the first report of multiquantum spin counting of assemblies formed in solution as captured under vitrified DNP conditions, which can be useful for future analysis of PNCs and other aqueous molecular clusters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mesopotamia S Nowotarski
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Lokeswara Rao Potnuru
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Joshua S Straub
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Raj Chaklashiya
- Department of Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Toshihiko Shimasaki
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Bholanath Pahari
- School of Physical and Applied Sciences, Goa University, Taleigao, Goa 403206, India
| | - Hunter Coffaro
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Sheetal Jain
- Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India
| | - Songi Han
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
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Gelenter MD, Yau WM, Anfinrud PA, Bax A. From Milliseconds to Minutes: Melittin Self-Assembly from Concerted Non-Equilibrium Pressure-Jump and Equilibrium Relaxation Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. J Phys Chem Lett 2024; 15:1930-1935. [PMID: 38346015 PMCID: PMC10896212 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c03563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Non-equilibrium kinetics techniques like pressure-jump nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) are powerful in tracking changes in oligomeric populations and are not limited by relaxation rates for the time scales of exchange that can be probed. However, these techniques are less sensitive to minor, transient populations than are Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) relaxation dispersion experiments. We integrated non-equilibrium pressure-jump and equilibrium CPMG relaxation dispersion data to fully map the kinetic landscape of melittin tetramerization. While monomeric peptides weakly form dimers (Kd,D/M ≈ 26 mM) whose population never exceeds 1.6% at 288 K, dimers associate tightly to form stable tetrameric species (Kd,T/D ≈ 740 nM). Exchange between the monomer and dimer, along with exchange between the dimer and tetramer, occurs on the millisecond time scale. The NMR approach developed herein can be readily applied to studying the folding and misfolding of a wide range of oligomeric assemblies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin D Gelenter
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 5 Memorial Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
| | - Wai-Ming Yau
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 5 Memorial Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
| | - Philip A Anfinrud
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 5 Memorial Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
| | - Ad Bax
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 5 Memorial Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
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Wilson CB, Yau WM, Tycko R. Experimental Evidence for Millisecond-Timescale Structural Evolution Following the Microsecond-Timescale Folding of a Small Protein. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2024; 132:048402. [PMID: 38335342 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.132.048402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Prior work has shown that small proteins can fold (i.e., convert from unstructured to structured states) within 10 μs. Here we use time-resolved solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) methods to show that full folding of the 35-residue villin headpiece subdomain (HP35) requires a slow annealing process that has not been previously detected. ^{13}C ssNMR spectra of frozen HP35 solutions, acquired with a variable time τ_{e} at 30 °C after rapid cooling from 95 °C and before rapid freezing, show changes on the 3-10 ms timescale, attributable to slow rearrangements of protein sidechains during τ_{e}.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Blake Wilson
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0520, USA
| | - Wai-Ming Yau
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0520, USA
| | - Robert Tycko
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0520, USA
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Jeon J, Yau WM, Tycko R. Early events in amyloid-β self-assembly probed by time-resolved solid state NMR and light scattering. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2964. [PMID: 37221174 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38494-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Self-assembly of amyloid-β peptides leads to oligomers, protofibrils, and fibrils that are likely instigators of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease. We report results of time-resolved solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) and light scattering experiments on 40-residue amyloid-β (Aβ40) that provide structural information for oligomers that form on time scales from 0.7 ms to 1.0 h after initiation of self-assembly by a rapid pH drop. Low-temperature ssNMR spectra of freeze-trapped intermediates indicate that β-strand conformations within and contacts between the two main hydrophobic segments of Aβ40 develop within 1 ms, while light scattering data imply a primarily monomeric state up to 5 ms. Intermolecular contacts involving residues 18 and 33 develop within 0.5 s, at which time Aβ40 is approximately octameric. These contacts argue against β-sheet organizations resembling those found previously in protofibrils and fibrils. Only minor changes in the Aβ40 conformational distribution are detected as larger assemblies develop.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaekyun Jeon
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892-0520, USA
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland/National Institute of Standards and Technology, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA
| | - Wai-Ming Yau
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892-0520, USA
| | - Robert Tycko
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892-0520, USA.
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Gelenter M, Bax A. Recombinant Expression and Chemical Amidation of Isotopically Labeled Native Melittin. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:3850-3854. [PMID: 36753641 PMCID: PMC9951214 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c12631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2022] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
Abstract
Post-translational modifications are ubiquitous in the eukaryotic proteome. However, these modifications are rarely incorporated in NMR studies of eukaryotic proteins, which are typically produced through recombinant expression in E. coli. Melittin is the primary peptide in honey bee venom. Its native C-terminal amide significantly affects its equilibrium structure and dynamics in solution and is thus a prerequisite for studying its native structure and function. Here, we present a method for producing triply isotopically labeled (2H, 13C, and 15N) native melittin through recombinant expression followed by chemical amidation. We then show that structural models produced with AlphaFold-Multimer are in even better agreement with experimental residual dipolar couplings than the 2.0 Å resolution X-ray crystal structure for residues G3-K23.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin
D. Gelenter
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0520, United States
| | - Ad Bax
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0520, United States
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Jeon J, Blake Wilson C, Yau WM, Thurber KR, Tycko R. Time-resolved solid state NMR of biomolecular processes with millisecond time resolution. JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE (SAN DIEGO, CALIF. : 1997) 2022; 342:107285. [PMID: 35998398 PMCID: PMC9463123 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2022.107285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2022] [Revised: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
We review recent efforts to develop and apply an experimental approach to the structural characterization of transient intermediate states in biomolecular processes that involve large changes in molecular conformation or assembly state. This approach depends on solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) measurements that are performed at very low temperatures, typically 25-30 K, with signal enhancements from dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP). This approach also involves novel technology for initiating the process of interest, either by rapid mixing of two solutions or by a rapid inverse temperature jump, and for rapid freezing to trap intermediate states. Initiation by rapid mixing or an inverse temperature jump can be accomplished in approximately-one millisecond. Freezing can be accomplished in approximately 100 microseconds. Thus, millisecond time resolution can be achieved. Recent applications to the process by which the biologically essential calcium sensor protein calmodulin forms a complex with one of its target proteins and the process by which the bee venom peptide melittin converts from an unstructured monomeric state to a helical, tetrameric state after a rapid change in pH or temperature are described briefly. Future applications of millisecond time-resolved ssNMR are also discussed briefly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaekyun Jeon
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0520, USA
| | - C Blake Wilson
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0520, USA
| | - Wai-Ming Yau
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0520, USA
| | - Kent R Thurber
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0520, USA
| | - Robert Tycko
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0520, USA.
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