Effects of High Temperature on Desolvation Costs of Salt Bridges Across Protein Binding Interfaces: Similarities and Differences between Implicit and Explicit Solvent Models

Accelerating explicit solvent models of heterogeneous catalysts with machine learning interatomic potentials

Realistically modelling how solvents affect catalytic reactions is a longstanding challenge due to its prohibitive computational cost. Typically, an explicit atomistic treatment of the solvent molecules is needed together with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and enhanced sampling methods. Here, we demonstrate the utility of machine learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs), coupled with active learning, to enable fast and accurate explicit solvent modelling of adsorption and reactions on heterogeneous catalysts. MLIPs trained on-the-fly were able to accelerate ab initio MD simulations by up to 4 orders of magnitude while reproducing with high fidelity the geometrical features of water in the bulk and at metal-water interfaces. Using these ML-accelerated simulations, we accurately predicted key catalytic quantities such as the adsorption energies of CO*, OH*, COH*, HCO*, and OCCHO* on Cu surfaces and the free energy barriers of C-H scission of ethylene glycol over Cu and Pd surfaces, as validated with ab initio calculations. We envision that such simulations will pave the way towards detailed and realistic studies of solvated catalysts at large time- and length-scales.

Structural Insights into the Loss-of-Function R288H Mutant of Human PPARγ

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a nuclear receptor and the molecular target of thiazolidinedione-class antidiabetic drugs. It has been reported that the loss of function R288H mutation in the human PPARγ ligand-binding domain (LBD) may be associated with the onset of colon cancer. A previous in vitro study showed that this mutation dampens 15-deoxy-Δ^12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2, a natural PPARγ agonist)-dependent transcriptional activation; however, it is poorly understood why the function of the R288H mutant is impaired and what role this arginine (Arg) residue plays. In this study, we found that the apo-form of R288H PPARγ mutant displays several altered conformational arrangements of the amino acid side chains in LBD: 1) the loss of a salt bridge between Arg288 and Glu295 leads to increased helix 3 movement; 2) closer proximity of Gln286 and His449 via a hydrogen bond, and closer proximity of Cys285 and Phe363 via hydrophobic interaction, stabilize the helix 3-helix 11 interaction; and 3) there is steric hindrance between Cys285/Gln286/Ser289/His449 and the flexible ligands 15d-PGJ2, 6-oxotetracosahexaenoic acid (6-oxoTHA), and 17-oxodocosahexaenoic acid (17-oxoDHA). These results suggest why Arg288 plays an important role in ligand binding and why the R288H mutation is disadvantageous for flexible ligand binding.

Enhancing a long-range salt bridge with intermediate aromatic and nonpolar amino acids

The interaction of a positively charged amino acid residue with a negatively charged residue (i.e. a salt bridge) can contribute substantially to protein conformational stability, especially when two ionic groups are in close proximity. At longer distances, this stabilizing effect tends to drop off precipitously. However, several lines of evidence suggest that salt-bridge interaction could persist at longer distances if an aromatic amino acid residue were positioned between the anion and cation. Here we explore this possibility in the context of a peptide in which a Lys residue occupies the i + 8 position relative to an i-position Glu on the solvent-exposed surface of a helix-bundle homotrimer. Variable temperature circular dichroism (CD) experiments indicate that an i + 4-position Trp enables a favorable long-range interaction between Glu and the i + 8 Lys. A substantial portion of this effect relies on the presence of a hydrogen-bond donor on the arene; however, non-polar arenes, a cyclic hydrocarbon, and an acyclic Leu side-chain can also enhance the long-range salt bridge, possibly by excluding water and ions from the space between Glu and Lys.

Perturbations in inter-domain associations may trigger the onset of pathogenic transformations in PrP(C): insights from atomistic simulations

Conversion of the predominantly α-helical cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) to the misfolded β-sheet enriched Scrapie form (PrP(Sc)) is a critical event in prion pathogenesis. However, the conformational triggers that lead to the isoform conversion (PrP(C) to PrP(Sc)) remain obscure, and conjectures about the role of unusually hydrophilic, short helix H1 of the C-terminal globular domain in the transition are varied. Helix H1 is anchored to helix H3 via a few stabilizing polar interactions. We have employed fully atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to study the effects triggered by a minor perturbation in the network of these non-bonded interactions in PrP(C). The elimination of just one of the key H1-H3 hydrogen bonds led to a cascade of conformational changes that are consistent with those observed in partially unfolded intermediates of PrP(C), with pathogenic mutations and in low pH environments. Our analyses reveal that the perturbation results in the enhanced conformational flexibility of the protein. The resultant enhancement in the dynamics leads to overall increased solvent exposure of the hydrophobic core residues and concomitant disruption of the H1-H3 inter-domain salt bridge network. This study lends credence to the hypothesis that perturbing the cooperativity of the stabilizing interactions in the PrP(C) globular domain can critically affect its dynamics and may lead to structural transitions of pathological relevance.

Role of Internal Water on Protein Thermal Stability: The Case of Homologous G Domains

In this work, we address the question of whether the enhanced stability of thermophilic proteins has a direct connection with internal hydration. Our model systems are two homologous G domains of different stability: the mesophilic G domain of the elongation factor thermal unstable protein from E. coli and the hyperthermophilic G domain of the EF-1α protein from S. solfataricus. Using molecular dynamics simulation at the microsecond time scale, we show that both proteins host water molecules in internal cavities and that these molecules exchange with the external solution in the nanosecond time scale. The hydration free energy of these sites evaluated via extensive calculations is found to be favorable for both systems, with the hyperthermophilic protein offering a slightly more favorable environment to host water molecules. We estimate that, under ambient conditions, the free energy gain due to internal hydration is about 1.3 kcal/mol in favor of the hyperthermophilic variant. However, we also find that, at the high working temperature of the hyperthermophile, the cavities are rather dehydrated, meaning that under extreme conditions other molecular factors secure the stability of the protein. Interestingly, we detect a clear correlation between the hydration of internal cavities and the protein conformational landscape. The emerging picture is that internal hydration is an effective observable to probe the conformational landscape of proteins. In the specific context of our investigation, the analysis confirms that the hyperthermophilic G domain is characterized by multiple states and it has a more flexible structure than its mesophilic homologue.

Cross dimerization of amyloid-β and αsynuclein proteins in aqueous environment: a molecular dynamics simulations study

Self-assembly of the intrinsically unstructured proteins, amyloid beta (Aβ) and alpha synclein (αSyn), are associated with Alzheimer's Disease, and Parkinson's and Lewy Body Diseases, respectively. Importantly, pathological overlaps between these neurodegenerative diseases, and the possibilities of interactions between Aβ and αSyn in biological milieu emerge from several recent clinical reports and in vitro studies. Nevertheless, there are very few molecular level studies that have probed the nature of spontaneous interactions between these two sequentially dissimilar proteins and key characteristics of the resulting cross complexes. In this study, we have used atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to probe the possibility of cross dimerization between αSyn1-95 and Aβ1-42, and thereby gain insights into their plausible early assembly pathways in aqueous environment. Our analyses indicate a strong probability of association between the two sequences, with inter-protein attractive electrostatic interactions playing dominant roles. Principal component analysis revealed significant heterogeneity in the strength and nature of the associations in the key interaction modes. In most, the interactions of repeating Lys residues, mainly in the imperfect repeats 'KTKEGV' present in αSyn1-95 were found to be essential for cross interactions and formation of inter-protein salt bridges. Additionally, a hydrophobicity driven interaction mode devoid of salt bridges, where the non-amyloid component (NAC) region of αSyn1-95 came in contact with the hydrophobic core of Aβ1-42 was observed. The existence of such hetero complexes, and therefore hetero assembly pathways may lead to polymorphic aggregates with variations in pathological attributes. Our results provide a perspective on development of therapeutic strategies for preventing pathogenic interactions between these proteins.

Evaluating the strength of salt bridges: a comparison of current biomolecular force fields

Recent advances in computer hardware and software have made rigorous evaluation of current biomolecular force fields using microsecond-scale simulations possible. Force fields differ in their treatment of electrostatic interactions, including the formation of salt bridges in proteins. Here we conducted an extensive evaluation of salt bridge interactions in the latest AMBER, CHARMM, and OPLS force fields, using microsecond-scale molecular dynamics simulations of amino acid analogues in explicit solvent. We focused on salt bridges between three different pairs of oppositely charged amino acids: Arg/Asp, Lys/Asp, and His(+)/Asp. Our results reveal considerable variability in the predicted K_A values of the salt bridges for these force fields, as well as differences from experimental data: almost all of the force fields overestimate the strengths of the salt bridges. When amino acids are represented by side-chain analogues, the AMBER ff03 force field overestimates the K_A values the least, while for complete amino acids, the AMBER ff13α force field yields the lowest K_A value, most likely caused by an altered balance of side-chain/side-chain and side-chain/backbone contacts. These findings confirm the notion that the implicit incorporation of solvent polarization improves the accuracy of modeling salt bridge interactions.

Molecular dynamics simulations of highly crowded amino acid solutions: comparisons of eight different force field combinations with experiment and with each other

Although it is now commonly accepted that the highly crowded conditions encountered inside biological cells have the potential to significantly alter the thermodynamic properties of biomolecules, it is not known to what extent the thermodynamics of fundamental types of interactions such as salt bridges and hydrophobic interactions are strengthened or weakened by high biomolecular concentrations. As one way of addressing this question we have performed a series of all-atom explicit solvent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the effect of increasing solute concentration on the behavior of four types of zwitterionic amino acids in aqueous solution. We have simulated systems containing glycine, valine, phenylalanine or asparagine at concentrations of 50, 100, 200 and 300 mg/ml. Each molecular system has been simulated for 1 μs in order to obtain statistically converged estimates of thermodynamic parameters, and each has been conducted with 8 different force fields and water models; the combined simulation time is 128 μs. The density, viscosity, and dielectric increments of the four amino acids calculated from the simulations have been compared to corresponding experimental measurements. While all of the force fields perform well at reproducing the density increments, discrepancies for the viscosity and dielectric increments raise questions both about the accuracy of the simulation force fields and, in certain cases, the experimental data. We also observe large differences between the various force fields' descriptions of the interaction thermodynamics of salt bridges and, surprisingly, these differences also lead to qualitatively different predictions of their dependences on solute concentration. For the aliphatic interactions of valine sidechains, fewer differences are observed between the force fields, but significant differences are again observed for aromatic interactions of phenylalanine sidechains. Taken together, the results highlight the potential power of using explicit-solvent simulation methods to understand behavior in concentrated systems but also hint at potential difficulties in using these methods to obtain consistent views of behavior in intracellular environments.

Importance of the ion-pair interactions in the OPEP coarse-grained force field: parametrization and validation

We have derived new effective interactions that improve the description of ion-pairs in the OPEP coarse-grained force field without introducing explicit electrostatic terms. The iterative Boltzmann inversion method was used to extract these potentials from all atom simulations by targeting the radial distribution function of the distance between the center of mass of the side-chains. The new potentials have been tested on several systems that differ in structural properties, thermodynamic stabilities and number of ion-pairs. Our modeling, by refining the packing of the charged amino-acids, impacts the stability of secondary structure motifs and the population of intermediate states during temperature folding/unfolding; it also improves the aggregation propensity of peptides. The new version of the OPEP force field has the potentiality to describe more realistically a large spectrum of situations where salt-bridges are key interactions.

The effect of protein composition on hydration dynamics

Water dynamics at the surface of two homologous proteins with different thermal resistances is found to be unaffected by the different underlying amino-acid compositions, and when proteins are folded it responds similarly to temperature variations. Upon unfolding the water dynamics slowdown with respect to bulk decreases by a factor of two. Our findings are explained by the dominant topological perturbation induced by the protein on the water hydrogen bond dynamics.