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Ragonis-Bachar P, Rayan B, Barnea E, Engelberg Y, Upcher A, Landau M. Natural Antimicrobial Peptides Self-assemble as α/β Chameleon Amyloids. Biomacromolecules 2022; 23:3713-3727. [PMID: 35947777 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.2c00582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Amyloid protein fibrils and some antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) share biophysical and structural properties. This observation suggests that ordered self-assembly can act as an AMP-regulating mechanism, and, vice versa, that human amyloids play a role in host defense against pathogens, as opposed to their common association with neurodegenerative and systemic diseases. Based on previous structural information on toxic amyloid peptides, we developed a sequence-based bioinformatics platform and, led by its predictions, experimentally identified 14 fibril-forming AMPs (ffAMPs) from living organisms, which demonstrated cross-β and cross-α amyloid properties. The results support the amyloid-antimicrobial link. The high prevalence of ffAMPs produced by amphibians and marine creatures among other species suggests that they confer unique advantageous properties in distinctive environments, potentially providing stability and adherence properties. Most of the newly identified 14 ffAMPs showed lipid-induced and/or time-dependent secondary structure transitions in the fibril form, indicating structural and functional cross-α/β chameleons. Specifically, ffAMP cytotoxicity against human cells correlated with the inherent or lipid-induced α-helical fibril structure. The findings raise hypotheses about the role of fibril secondary structure switching in regulation of processes, such as the transition between a stable storage conformation and an active state with toxicity against specific cell types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peleg Ragonis-Bachar
- Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel
| | - Bader Rayan
- Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel
| | - Eilon Barnea
- Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel
| | - Yizhaq Engelberg
- Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel
| | - Alexander Upcher
- Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Meytal Landau
- Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel.,European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Hamburg 22607, Germany
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Shelley MY, Selvan ME, Zhao J, Babin V, Liao C, Li J, Shelley JC. A New Mixed All-Atom/Coarse-Grained Model: Application to Melittin Aggregation in Aqueous Solution. J Chem Theory Comput 2017; 13:3881-3897. [PMID: 28636825 PMCID: PMC5551643 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
We introduce a new mixed resolution, all-atom/coarse-grained approach (AACG), for modeling peptides in aqueous solution and apply it to characterizing the aggregation of melittin. All of the atoms in peptidic components are represented, while a single site is used for each water molecule. With the full flexibility of the peptide retained, our AACG method achieves speedups by a factor of 3-4 for CPU time reduction and another factor of roughly 7 for diffusion. An Ewald treatment permits the inclusion of long-range electrostatic interactions. These characteristics fit well with the requirements for studying peptide association and aggregation, where the system sizes and time scales require considerable computational resources with all-atom models. In particular, AACG is well suited for biologics since changes in peptide shape and long-range electrostatics may play an important role. The application of AACG to melittin, a 26-residue peptide with a well-known propensity to aggregate in solution, serves as an initial demonstration of this technology for studying peptide aggregation. We observed the formation of melittin aggregates during our simulations and characterized the time-evolution of aggregate size distribution, buried surface areas, and residue contacts. Key interactions including π-cation and π-stacking involving TRP19 were also examined. Our AACG simulations demonstrated a clear salt effect and a moderate temperature effect on aggregation and support the molten globule model of melittin aggregates. As a showcase, this work illustrates the useful role for AACG in investigations of peptide aggregation and its potential to guide formulation and design of biologics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mee Y. Shelley
- Schrödinger,
Inc., 101 SW Main Street,
Suite 1300, Portland, Oregon 97204, United States
| | - Myvizhi Esai Selvan
- Schrödinger,
Inc., 120 W. 45th Street,
17th Floor, New York, New
York 10036, United
States
| | - Jun Zhao
- Cancer
and Inflammation Program, National Cancer
Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702, United
States
| | - Volodymyr Babin
- Schrödinger,
Inc., 101 SW Main Street,
Suite 1300, Portland, Oregon 97204, United States
| | - Chenyi Liao
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, United States
| | - Jianing Li
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, United States
| | - John C. Shelley
- Schrödinger,
Inc., 101 SW Main Street,
Suite 1300, Portland, Oregon 97204, United States
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Li J, Hu Z, Beuerman R, Verma C. Molecular Environment Modulates Conformational Differences between Crystal and Solution States of Human β-Defensin 2. J Phys Chem B 2017; 121:2739-2747. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b00083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jianguo Li
- Singapore Eye Research Institute, 11 Third Hospital Avenue, #06-00, Singapore 168751
- Bioinformatics Institute (A*-STAR), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, Singapore 138671
| | - Zhongqiao Hu
- Bioinformatics Institute (A*-STAR), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, Singapore 138671
| | - Roger Beuerman
- Singapore Eye Research Institute, 11 Third Hospital Avenue, #06-00, Singapore 168751
- Department
of Ophthalmology, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119074
- School of
Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637459
| | - Chandra Verma
- Singapore Eye Research Institute, 11 Third Hospital Avenue, #06-00, Singapore 168751
- Bioinformatics Institute (A*-STAR), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, Singapore 138671
- School
of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637551
- Department
of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543
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Li J, Koh JJ, Liu S, Lakshminarayanan R, Verma CS, Beuerman RW. Membrane Active Antimicrobial Peptides: Translating Mechanistic Insights to Design. Front Neurosci 2017; 11:73. [PMID: 28261050 PMCID: PMC5306396 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 335] [Impact Index Per Article: 47.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2016] [Accepted: 01/31/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising next generation antibiotics that hold great potential for combating bacterial resistance. AMPs can be both bacteriostatic and bactericidal, induce rapid killing and display a lower propensity to develop resistance than do conventional antibiotics. Despite significant progress in the past 30 years, no peptide antibiotic has reached the clinic yet. Poor understanding of the action mechanisms and lack of rational design principles have been the two major obstacles that have slowed progress. Technological developments are now enabling multidisciplinary approaches including molecular dynamics simulations combined with biophysics and microbiology toward providing valuable insights into the interactions of AMPs with membranes at atomic level. This has led to increasingly robust models of the mechanisms of action of AMPs and has begun to contribute meaningfully toward the discovery of new AMPs. This review discusses the detailed action mechanisms that have been put forward, with detailed atomistic insights into how the AMPs interact with bacterial membranes. The review further discusses how this knowledge is exploited toward developing design principles for novel AMPs. Finally, the current status, associated challenges, and future directions for the development of AMP therapeutics are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianguo Li
- Ocular Chemistry and Anti-Infectives, Singapore Eye Research InstituteSingapore, Singapore
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), Bioinformatics InstituteSingapore, Singapore
- Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, SRP Neuroscience and BDSingapore, Singapore
| | - Jun-Jie Koh
- Ocular Chemistry and Anti-Infectives, Singapore Eye Research InstituteSingapore, Singapore
| | - Shouping Liu
- Ocular Chemistry and Anti-Infectives, Singapore Eye Research InstituteSingapore, Singapore
| | | | - Chandra S. Verma
- Ocular Chemistry and Anti-Infectives, Singapore Eye Research InstituteSingapore, Singapore
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), Bioinformatics InstituteSingapore, Singapore
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of SingaporeSingapore, Singapore
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological UniversitySingapore, Singapore
| | - Roger W. Beuerman
- Ocular Chemistry and Anti-Infectives, Singapore Eye Research InstituteSingapore, Singapore
- Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, SRP Neuroscience and BDSingapore, Singapore
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Kashiwada A, Yamane I, Tsuboi M, Ando S, Matsuda K. Design, construction, and characterization of high-performance membrane fusion devices with target-selectivity. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2012; 28:2299-2305. [PMID: 22204500 DOI: 10.1021/la2038075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Membrane fusion proteins such as the hemagglutinin glycoprotein have target recognition and fusion accelerative domains, where some synergistically working elements are essential for target-selective and highly effective native membrane fusion systems. In this work, novel membrane fusion devices bearing such domains were designed and constructed. We selected a phenylboronic acid derivative as a recognition domain for a sugar-like target and a transmembrane-peptide (Leu-Ala sequence) domain interacting with the target membrane, forming a stable hydrophobic α-helix and accelerating the fusion process. Artificial membrane fusion behavior between the synthetic devices in which pilot and target liposomes were incorporated was characterized by lipid-mixing and inner-leaflet lipid-mixing assays. Consequently, the devices bearing both the recognition and transmembrane domains brought about a remarkable increase in the initial rate for the membrane fusion compared with the devices containing the recognition domain alone. In addition, a weakly acidic pH-responsive device was also constructed by replacing three Leu residues in the transmembrane-peptide domain by Glu residues. The presence of Glu residues made the acidic pH-dependent hydrophobic α-helix formation possible as expected. The target-selective liposome-liposome fusion was accelerated in a weakly acidic pH range when the Glu-substituted device was incorporated in pilot liposomes. The use of this pH-responsive device seems to be a potential strategy for novel applications in a liposome-based delivery system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayumi Kashiwada
- Department of Applied Molecular Chemistry, Graduate School of Industrial Technology, Nihon University, Narashino, Chiba 275-8575, Japan.
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Abstract
This work considers the physics of a brush formed by polymers capable of undergoing a helix-coil transition. A self-consistent field approximation for strongly stretched polymer chains is used in combination with a lattice model of the interaction energy in helix-coil mixtures. Crowding-induced chain stretching stabilizes helix formation at moderate tethering densities while high tethering density causes sufficiently strong stretching to unravel segments of the helix, resulting in distinct layers of monomer density and helical content. Compared to a random-coil brush at low-to-moderate tethering density, a helicogenic brush is less resistant to compression in the direction perpendicular to stretching due to easy alignment of helices and fewer unfavorable interactions between helical segments. At higher tethering density, the abovementioned stretch-induced decrease in helical content resists further compression. The proposed model is useful for understanding an emerging class of biomaterials that utilize helix-forming polymer brushes to induce shape changes or to stabilize biofunctional helical peptide sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Kastantin
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
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Abstract
Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) are ligand-gated ion channels that mediate excitatory signaling in the central nervous system. When a ligand binds to the extracellular domain of iGluRs, local conformational changes ensue and this motion is translated to the transmembrane domain, inducing channel opening. We have used an isolated ligand binding domain, GluR2-S1S2J (GluR2), as a model system to study the protein-ligand complex by steady-state and time-resolved intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence measurements. Specifically, we determined that the widely used and structurally characterized antagonist, 6,7-dinitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (DNQX), acts as an efficient fluorescence energy transfer (FET) acceptor for Trp. Consistent with crystallographic data, our results indicate that the four native tryptophans are within Forster's radius (R(o) approximately 33 A) of the bound ligand. Additionally, we demonstrate the broader value of this technique by identifying an original FET ligand, 3-nitrotyrosine (3NY), for GluR2 (R(o) approximately 24 A; apparent dissociation constant K(d) approximately 170 microM). Estimated average donor-acceptor (Trp-ligand) distances extracted from tryptophan excited-state decays are similar for both ligands (approximately 24 A), suggesting that 3NY binds in the structurally characterized ligand binding cleft. Moreover, an alternative competition assay utilizing Trp --> DNQX quenching for detection of ligand binding in GluR2 is described.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy F. Petrik
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, 50 South Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
| | - Marie-Paule Strub
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, 50 South Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
| | - Jennifer C. Lee
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, 50 South Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
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Li Y, Li HW, Ma LJ, Dang YQ, Wu Y. A unique protein labeling system based on melittin and the non-covalent binding-induced pyrene excimer. Chem Commun (Camb) 2010; 46:3768-70. [DOI: 10.1039/b925401c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Manna M, Mukhopadhyay C. Cause and effect of melittin-induced pore formation: a computational approach. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2009; 25:12235-12242. [PMID: 19754202 DOI: 10.1021/la902660q] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Melittin embedded in a palmitoyl oleyl phosphatidylcholine bilayer at a high peptide/lipid ratio (1:30) was simulated in the presence of explicit water and ions. The simulation results indicate the incipience of an ion-permeable water pore through collective membrane perturbation by bound peptides. The positively charged residues of melittin not only act as "anchors" but also disrupt the membrane, leading to cell lysis. A detailed analysis of the lipid tail order parameter profile depicts localized membrane perturbation. The lipids in the vicinity of the aqueous cavity adopt a tilted conformation, which allows local bilayer thinning. The prepore thus formed can be considered as the melittin-induced structural defects in the bilayer membrane. Because of the strong cationic nature, the melittin-induced prepore exhibits selectivity toward anions over cations. As Cl(-) ions entered into the prepore, they are electrostatically entrapped by positively charged residues located at its wall. The confined motion of the Cl(-) ions in the membrane interior is obvious from calculated diffusion coefficients. Moreover, reorientation of the local lipids occurs in such a way that few lipid heads along with peptide helices can line the surface of the penetrating aqueous phase. The flipping of lipids argued in favor of melittin-induced toroidal pore over a barrel-stave mechanism. Thus, our result provides atomistic level details of the mechanism of membrane disruption by antimicrobial peptide melittin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moutusi Manna
- Department of Chemistry, University of Calcutta, 92, A. P. C. Road, Kolkata-700 009, India
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