Influence of Medium and Long Range Interactions in (α/β)(8) Barrel Proteins

Dihedral angle preferences of amino acid residues forming various non-local interactions in proteins

In theory, a polypeptide chain can adopt a vast number of conformations, each corresponding to a set of backbone rotation angles. Many of these conformations are excluded due to steric overlaps. Ramachandran and coworkers were the first to look into this problem by plotting backbone dihedral angles in a two-dimensional plot. The conformational space in the Ramachandran map is further refined by considering the energetic contributions of various non-bonded interactions. Alternatively, the conformation adopted by a polypeptide chain may also be examined by investigating interactions between the residues. Since the Ramachandran map essentially focuses on local interactions (residues closer in sequence), out of interest, we have analyzed the dihedral angle preferences of residues that make non-local interactions (residues far away in sequence and closer in space) in the folded structures of proteins. The non-local interactions have been grouped into different types such as hydrogen bond, van der Waals interactions between hydrophobic groups, ion pairs (salt bridges), and ππ-stacking interactions. The results show the propensity of amino acid residues in proteins forming local and non-local interactions. Our results point to the vital role of different types of non-local interactions and their effect on dihedral angles in forming secondary and tertiary structural elements to adopt their native fold.

Inter-residue interactions in protein folding and stability

During the process of protein folding, the amino acid residues along the polypeptide chain interact with each other in a cooperative manner to form the stable native structure. The knowledge about inter-residue interactions in protein structures is very helpful to understand the mechanism of protein folding and stability. In this review, we introduce the classification of inter-residue interactions into short, medium and long range based on a simple geometric approach. The features of these interactions in different structural classes of globular and membrane proteins, and in various folds have been delineated. The development of contact potentials and the application of inter-residue contacts for predicting the structural class and secondary structures of globular proteins, solvent accessibility, fold recognition and ab initio tertiary structure prediction have been evaluated. Further, the relationship between inter-residue contacts and protein-folding rates has been highlighted. Moreover, the importance of inter-residue interactions in protein-folding kinetics and for understanding the stability of proteins has been discussed. In essence, the information gained from the studies on inter-residue interactions provides valuable insights for understanding protein folding and de novo protein design.

Predicting protein structure from long-range contacts

Short-range and long-range contacts are important in forming protein structure. The proteins can be grouped into four different structural classes according to the content and topology of alpha-helices and beta-strands, and there are all-alpha, all-beta, alpha/beta and alpha+beta proteins. However, there is much difference in statistical property for those classes of proteins. In this paper, we will discuss protein structure in the view of the relative number of long-range (short-range) contacts for each residue. We find the percentage of residues having a large number of long-range contacts in protein is small in all-alpha class of proteins, and large in all-beta class of proteins. However, the percentage of residues is almost the same in alpha/beta and alpha+beta classes of proteins. We calculate the percentage of residues having the number of long-range contacts greater than or equal to (>/=) N(L)=5, and 7 for 428 proteins. The average percentage is 13.3%, 54.8%, 41.4% and 37.0% for all-alpha, all-beta, alpha/beta and alpha+beta classes of proteins with N(L)=5, respectively. With N(L) increasing, the percentage decreases, especially for all-alpha class of proteins. In the meantime, the percentage of residues having the number of short-range contacts greater than or equal to N(S) (>/=N(S)) in protein samples is large for all-alpha class of proteins, and small for all-beta class of proteins, especially for large N(S). We also investigate the ability of amino residues in forming a large number of long-range and short-range contacts. Cys, Val, Ile, Tyr, Trp and Phe can form a large number of long-range contacts easily, and Glu, Lys, Asp, Gln, Arg and Asn can form a large number of long-range contacts, but with difficulty. We also discuss the relative ability in forming short-range contacts for 20 amino residues. Comparison with Fauchere-Pliska hydrophobicity scale and the percentage of residues having large number of long-range contacts is also made. This investigation can provide some insights into the protein structure.

Role of hydrophobic clusters and long-range contact networks in the folding of (alpha/beta)8 barrel proteins

Analysis on the three dimensional structures of (alpha/beta)(8) barrel proteins provides ample light to understand the factors that are responsible for directing and maintaining their common fold. In this work, the hydrophobically enriched clusters are identified in 92% of the considered (alpha/beta)(8) barrel proteins. The residue segments with hydrophobic clusters have high thermal stability. Further, these clusters are formed and stabilized through long-range interactions. Specifically, a network of long-range contacts connects adjacent beta-strands of the (alpha/beta)(8) barrel domain and the hydrophobic clusters. The implications of hydrophobic clusters and long-range networks in providing a feasible common mechanism for the folding of (alpha/beta)(8) barrel proteins are proposed.

Role of medium--and long-range interactions in discriminating globular and membrane proteins

The analysis of inter-residue interactions in protein structures provides considerable insight to understand their folding and stability. We have previously analyzed the role of medium- and long-range interactions in the folding of globular proteins. In this work, we study the distinct role of such interactions in the three-dimensional structures of membrane proteins. We observed a higher number of long-range contacts in the termini of transmembrane helical (TMH) segments, implying their role in the stabilization of helix-helix interactions. The transmembrane strand (TMS) proteins are having appreciably higher long-range contacts than that in all-beta class of globular proteins, indicating closer packing of the strands in TMS proteins. The residues in membrane spanning segments of TMH proteins have 1.3 times higher medium-range contacts than long-range contacts whereas that of TMS proteins have 14 times higher long-range contacts than medium-range contacts. Residue-wise analysis indicates that in TMH proteins, the residues Cys, Glu, Gly, Pro, Gln, Ser and Tyr have higher long-range contacts than medium-range contacts in contrast with all-alpha class of globular proteins. The charged residue pairs have higher medium-range contacts in all-alpha proteins, whereas hydrophobic residue pairs are dominant in TMH proteins. The information on the preference of residue pairs to form medium-range contacts has been successfully used to discriminate the TMH proteins from all-alpha proteins. The statistical significance of the results obtained from the present study has been verified using randomized structures of TMH and TMS protein templates.

Influence of medium and long range interactions in protein folding

Protein structures are stabilized by both local and long range interactions. In this work, we analyze the residue-residue contacts and the role of medium- and long-range interactions in globular proteins belonging to different structural classes. The results show that while medium range interactions predominate in all-alpha class proteins, long-range interactions predominate in all-beta class. Based on this, we analyze the performance of several structure prediction methods in different structural classes of globular proteins and found that all the methods predict the secondary structures of all-alpha proteins more accurately than other classes. Also, we observed that the residues occurring in the range of 21-30 residues apart contributes more towards long-range contacts and about 85% of residues are involved in long-range contacts. Further, the preference of residue pairs to the folding and stability of globular proteins is discussed.

Importance of long-range interactions in protein folding

Long-range interactions play an active role in the stability of protein molecules. In this work, we have analyzed the importance of long-range interactions in different structural classes of globular proteins in terms of residue distances. We found that 85% of residues are involved in long-range contacts. The residues occurring in the range of 4-10 residues apart contribute more towards long-range contacts in all-alpha proteins while the range is 11-20 in all-beta proteins. The hydrophobic residues Cys, Ile and Val prefer the 11-20 range and all other residues prefer the 4-10 range. The residues in all-beta proteins have an average of 3-8 long-range contacts whereas the residues in other classes have 1-4 long-range contracts. Furthermore, the preference of residue pairs to the folding and stability will be discussed.

Analysis of hydrophobic and charged patches and influence of medium- and long-range interactions in molecular chaperones

The amino acid composition of the aromatic residues Phe, Tyr and Trp are much less significant in chaperones and the residues Cys, Glu, His, Met and Pro vary significantly in chaperones compared to normal globular proteins. In the present work, we have analysed the hydrophobic and charged patches in molecular chaperones which provide more insight for a better understanding of chaperone folding. Also, we have investigated the role of medium- and long-range contacts in chaperones and the preference of amino acid residues influenced by these interactions. Furthermore, the role of hydrophobic and helix-forming residues and disulfide bonding in these interactions have been discussed.

Importance of long-range interactions in (alpha/beta)8 barrel fold

Protein structures are stabilized by both local and long-range interactions. In this work, we analyzed the importance of long-range interactions in (alpha/beta)8 barrel proteins in terms of residue distances. We found that the residues occurring in the range of 21-30 residues apart contribute more toward long-range contacts. Indeed, about 50% of successive strands in these proteins are found to occur at a sequential distance of 21-30 residues. The aromatic amino acid residues Phe, Trp, and Tyr prefer the 4-10 range and all other residues prefer the 21-30 range. Hydrophobic-hydrophobic residue pairs are the most preferred ones for long-range interactions and they may play a key role in the folding and stabilization of (alpha/beta)8 barrel proteins.