1
|
Brodmerkel MN, Thiede L, De Santis E, Uetrecht C, Caleman C, Marklund EG. Collision induced unfolding and molecular dynamics simulations of norovirus capsid dimers reveal strain-specific stability profiles. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:13094-13105. [PMID: 38628116 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp06344e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Collision induced unfolding (CIU) is a method used with ion mobility mass spectrometry to examine protein structures and their stability. Such experiments yield information about higher order protein structures, yet are unable to provide details about the underlying processes. That information can however be provided using molecular dynamics simulations. Here, we investigate the gas-phase unfolding of norovirus capsid dimers from the Norwalk and Kawasaki strains by employing molecular dynamics simulations over a range of temperatures, representing different levels of activation, together with CIU experiments. The dimers have highly similar structures, but their CIU reveals different stability that can be explained by the different dynamics that arises in response to the activation seen in the simulations, including a part of the sequence with previously observed strain-specific dynamics in solution. Our findings show how similar protein variants can be examined using mass spectrometric techniques in conjunction with atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to reveal differences in stability as well as differences in how and where unfolding takes place upon activation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maxim N Brodmerkel
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Lars Thiede
- CSSB Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Leibniz Institute of Virology (LIV), Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
- Institute of Chemistry and Metabolomics, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Emiliano De Santis
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, 75120 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Charlotte Uetrecht
- CSSB Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Leibniz Institute of Virology (LIV), Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
- Institute of Chemistry and Metabolomics, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Carl Caleman
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, 75120 Uppsala, Sweden
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Erik G Marklund
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Wollter A, De Santis E, Ekeberg T, Marklund EG, Caleman C. Enhanced EMC-Advantages of partially known orientations in x-ray single particle imaging. J Chem Phys 2024; 160:114108. [PMID: 38506290 DOI: 10.1063/5.0188772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Single particle imaging of proteins in the gas phase with x-ray free-electron lasers holds great potential to study fast protein dynamics, but is currently limited by weak and noisy data. A further challenge is to discover the proteins' orientation as each protein is randomly oriented when exposed to x-rays. Algorithms such as the expand, maximize, and compress (EMC) exist that can solve the orientation problem and reconstruct the three-dimensional diffraction intensity space, given sufficient measurements. If information about orientation were known, for example, by using an electric field to orient the particles, the reconstruction would benefit and potentially reach better results. We used simulated diffraction experiments to test how the reconstructions from EMC improve with particles' orientation to a preferred axis. Our reconstructions converged to correct maps of the three-dimensional diffraction space with fewer measurements if biased orientation information was considered. Even for a moderate bias, there was still significant improvement. Biased orientations also substantially improved the results in the case of missing central information, in particular in the case of small datasets. The effects were even more significant when adding a background with 50% the strength of the averaged diffraction signal photons to the diffraction patterns, sometimes reducing the data requirement for convergence by a factor of 10. This demonstrates the usefulness of having biased orientation information in single particle imaging experiments, even for a weaker bias than what was previously known. This could be a key component in overcoming the problems with background noise that currently plague these experiments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- August Wollter
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Husargatan 3, 75124 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Emiliano De Santis
- Department of Chemistry-BMC, Uppsala University, Box 576, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tomas Ekeberg
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Husargatan 3, 75124 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Erik G Marklund
- Department of Chemistry-BMC, Uppsala University, Box 576, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Carl Caleman
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestraße 85, DE-22607 Hamburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Esser TK, Böhning J, Önür A, Chinthapalli DK, Eriksson L, Grabarics M, Fremdling P, Konijnenberg A, Makarov A, Botman A, Peter C, Benesch JLP, Robinson CV, Gault J, Baker L, Bharat TAM, Rauschenbach S. Cryo-EM of soft-landed β-galactosidase: Gas-phase and native structures are remarkably similar. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadl4628. [PMID: 38354247 PMCID: PMC10866560 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adl4628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
Native mass spectrometry (MS) has become widely accepted in structural biology, providing information on stoichiometry, interactions, homogeneity, and shape of protein complexes. Yet, the fundamental assumption that proteins inside the mass spectrometer retain a structure faithful to native proteins in solution remains a matter of intense debate. Here, we reveal the gas-phase structure of β-galactosidase using single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) down to 2.6-Å resolution, enabled by soft landing of mass-selected protein complexes onto cold transmission electron microscopy (TEM) grids followed by in situ ice coating. We find that large parts of the secondary and tertiary structure are retained from the solution. Dehydration-driven subunit reorientation leads to consistent compaction in the gas phase. By providing a direct link between high-resolution imaging and the capability to handle and select protein complexes that behave problematically in conventional sample preparation, the approach has the potential to expand the scope of both native mass spectrometry and cryo-EM.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tim K. Esser
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- Kavli Institute for NanoScience Discovery, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, 1 Boundary Park, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP2 7GE, UK
| | - Jan Böhning
- Structural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK
| | - Alpcan Önür
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78457, Germany
| | - Dinesh K. Chinthapalli
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- Kavli Institute for NanoScience Discovery, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Lukas Eriksson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- Kavli Institute for NanoScience Discovery, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Marko Grabarics
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- Kavli Institute for NanoScience Discovery, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Paul Fremdling
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | | | - Alexander Makarov
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bremen 28199, Germany
- Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Aurelien Botman
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, 5350 NE Dawson Creek Drive, Hillsboro, OR 97124, USA
| | - Christine Peter
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78457, Germany
| | - Justin L. P. Benesch
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- Kavli Institute for NanoScience Discovery, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Carol V. Robinson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- Kavli Institute for NanoScience Discovery, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Joseph Gault
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Lindsay Baker
- Kavli Institute for NanoScience Discovery, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Tanmay A. M. Bharat
- Structural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK
| | - Stephan Rauschenbach
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- Kavli Institute for NanoScience Discovery, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Ekeberg T, Assalauova D, Bielecki J, Boll R, Daurer BJ, Eichacker LA, Franken LE, Galli DE, Gelisio L, Gumprecht L, Gunn LH, Hajdu J, Hartmann R, Hasse D, Ignatenko A, Koliyadu J, Kulyk O, Kurta R, Kuster M, Lugmayr W, Lübke J, Mancuso AP, Mazza T, Nettelblad C, Ovcharenko Y, Rivas DE, Rose M, Samanta AK, Schmidt P, Sobolev E, Timneanu N, Usenko S, Westphal D, Wollweber T, Worbs L, Xavier PL, Yousef H, Ayyer K, Chapman HN, Sellberg JA, Seuring C, Vartanyants IA, Küpper J, Meyer M, Maia FRNC. Observation of a single protein by ultrafast X-ray diffraction. LIGHT, SCIENCE & APPLICATIONS 2024; 13:15. [PMID: 38216563 PMCID: PMC10786860 DOI: 10.1038/s41377-023-01352-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/14/2024]
Abstract
The idea of using ultrashort X-ray pulses to obtain images of single proteins frozen in time has fascinated and inspired many. It was one of the arguments for building X-ray free-electron lasers. According to theory, the extremely intense pulses provide sufficient signal to dispense with using crystals as an amplifier, and the ultrashort pulse duration permits capturing the diffraction data before the sample inevitably explodes. This was first demonstrated on biological samples a decade ago on the giant mimivirus. Since then, a large collaboration has been pushing the limit of the smallest sample that can be imaged. The ability to capture snapshots on the timescale of atomic vibrations, while keeping the sample at room temperature, may allow probing the entire conformational phase space of macromolecules. Here we show the first observation of an X-ray diffraction pattern from a single protein, that of Escherichia coli GroEL which at 14 nm in diameter is the smallest biological sample ever imaged by X-rays, and demonstrate that the concept of diffraction before destruction extends to single proteins. From the pattern, it is possible to determine the approximate orientation of the protein. Our experiment demonstrates the feasibility of ultrafast imaging of single proteins, opening the way to single-molecule time-resolved studies on the femtosecond timescale.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tomas Ekeberg
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Dameli Assalauova
- Deutsches Electronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - Rebecca Boll
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Benedikt J Daurer
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
| | - Lutz A Eichacker
- University of Stavanger, Centre Organelle Research, Richard-Johnsensgate 4, 4021, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Linda E Franken
- Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI), Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Notkestraße 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Davide E Galli
- Dipartimento di Fisica "Aldo Pontremoli", Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133, Milano, Italy
| | - Luca Gelisio
- Deutsches Electronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Lars Gumprecht
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Laura H Gunn
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124, Uppsala, Sweden
- Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
| | - Janos Hajdu
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Dirk Hasse
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Alexandr Ignatenko
- Deutsches Electronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jayanath Koliyadu
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
- Biomedical and X-Ray Physics, Department of Applied Physics, AlbaNova University Center, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Olena Kulyk
- ELI Beamlines/IoP Institute of Physics AS CR, v.v.i., Na Slovance 2, 182 21, Prague 8, Czech Republic
| | - Ruslan Kurta
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Markus Kuster
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Lugmayr
- Multi-User CryoEM Facility, Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Notkestr.85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistrasse 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jannik Lübke
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- The Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Adrian P Mancuso
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia
| | - Tommaso Mazza
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Carl Nettelblad
- Division of Scientific Computing, Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Information Technology, Uppsala University, Box 337, SE-75105, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | | | - Max Rose
- Deutsches Electronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Amit K Samanta
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - Egor Sobolev
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, c/o DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nicusor Timneanu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-75120, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sergey Usenko
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Daniel Westphal
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tamme Wollweber
- The Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Lena Worbs
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Paul Lourdu Xavier
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Hazem Yousef
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Kartik Ayyer
- The Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Henry N Chapman
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- The Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jonas A Sellberg
- Biomedical and X-Ray Physics, Department of Applied Physics, AlbaNova University Center, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Carolin Seuring
- Multi-User CryoEM Facility, Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Notkestr.85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Chemistry, Universität Hamburg, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Ivan A Vartanyants
- Deutsches Electronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jochen Küpper
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- The Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Michael Meyer
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Filipe R N C Maia
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124, Uppsala, Sweden.
- NERSC, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Kopp KT, Saerens L, Voorspoels J, Van den Mooter G. Solidification and oral delivery of biologics to the colon- A review. Eur J Pharm Sci 2023; 190:106523. [PMID: 37429482 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejps.2023.106523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
Abstract
The oral delivery of biologics such as therapeutic proteins, peptides and oligonucleotides for the treatment of colon related diseases has been the focus of increasing attention over the last years. However, the major disadvantage of these macromolecules is their degradation propensity in liquid state which can lead to the undesirable and complete loss of function. Therefore, to increase the stability of the biologic and reduce their degradation propensity, formulation techniques such as solidification can be performed to obtain a stable solid dosage form for oral administration. Due to their fragility, stress exerted on the biologic during solidification has to be reduced with the incorporation of stabilizing excipients into the formulation. This review focuses on the state-of-the-art solidification techniques required to obtain a solid dosage form for the oral delivery of biologics to the colon and the use of suitable excipients for adequate stabilization upon solidification. The solidifying processes discussed within this review are spray drying, freeze drying, bead coating and also other techniques such as spray freeze drying, electro spraying, vacuum- and supercritical fluid drying. Further, the colon as site of absorption in both healthy and diseased state is critically reviewed and possible oral delivery systems for biologics are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Tatjana Kopp
- Eurofins Amatsigroup, Industriepark-Zwijnaarde 7B, 9052 Gent, Belgium; Drug Delivery and Disposition, KU Leuven, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Campus Gasthuisberg ON2, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lien Saerens
- Eurofins Amatsigroup, Industriepark-Zwijnaarde 7B, 9052 Gent, Belgium
| | - Jody Voorspoels
- Eurofins Amatsigroup, Industriepark-Zwijnaarde 7B, 9052 Gent, Belgium
| | - Guy Van den Mooter
- Drug Delivery and Disposition, KU Leuven, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Campus Gasthuisberg ON2, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Saikusa K, Asakawa D, Fuchigami S, Akashi S. Evaluation for Ion Heating of H2A-H2B Dimer in Ion Mobility Spectrometry-Mass Spectrometry. Mass Spectrom (Tokyo) 2023; 12:A0131. [PMID: 37860749 PMCID: PMC10582283 DOI: 10.5702/massspectrometry.a0131] [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: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) provides m/z values and collision cross sections (CCSs) of gas-phase ions. In our previous study, an intrinsically disordered protein, the H2A-H2B dimer, was analyzed using IMS-MS, resulting in two conformational populations of CCS. Based on experimental and theoretical approaches, this resulted from a structural diversity of intrinsically disordered regions. We predicted that this phenomenon is related to ion heating in the IMS-MS instrument. In this study, to reveal the effect of ion heating from parameters in the IMS-MS instrument on the conformational population of the H2A-H2B dimer, we investigated the arrival time distributions of the H2A-H2B dimer by changing values of three instrumental parameters, namely, cone voltage located in the first vacuum chamber, trap collision energy (trap CE) for tandem mass spectrometry, and trap bias voltage for the entrance of IMS. These results revealed that the two populations observed for the H2A-H2B dimer were due to the trap bias voltage. Furthermore, to evaluate the internal energies of the analyte ions with respect to each parameter, benzylpyridinium derivatives were used as temperature-sensitive probes. The results showed that the trap CE voltage imparts greater internal energy to the ions than the trap bias voltage. In addition, this slight change in the internal energy caused by the trap bias voltage resulted in the structural diversity of the H2A-H2B dimer. Therefore, the trap bias voltage should be set with attention to the properties of the analytes, even if the effect of the trap bias voltage on the internal energy is negligible.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kazumi Saikusa
- Research Institute for Material and Chemical Measurement, National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1–1–1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305–8563, Japan
- Graduate School of Medical Life Science, Yokohama City University, 1–7–29 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230–0045, Japan
| | - Daiki Asakawa
- Research Institute for Measurement and Analytical Instrumentation, National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1–1–1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305–8568, Japan
| | - Sotaro Fuchigami
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52–1 Yada, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka 422–8526, Japan
| | - Satoko Akashi
- Graduate School of Medical Life Science, Yokohama City University, 1–7–29 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230–0045, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
E J, Stransky M, Shen Z, Jurek Z, Fortmann-Grote C, Bean R, Santra R, Ziaja B, Mancuso AP. Water layer and radiation damage effects on the orientation recovery of proteins in single-particle imaging at an X-ray free-electron laser. Sci Rep 2023; 13:16359. [PMID: 37773512 PMCID: PMC10541445 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43298-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The noise caused by sample heterogeneity (including sample solvent) has been identified as one of the determinant factors for a successful X-ray single-particle imaging experiment. It influences both the radiation damage process that occurs during illumination as well as the scattering patterns captured by the detector. Here, we investigate the impact of water layer thickness and radiation damage on orientation recovery from diffraction patterns of the nitrogenase iron protein. Orientation recovery is a critical step for single-particle imaging. It enables to sort a set of diffraction patterns scattered by identical particles placed at unknown orientations and assemble them into a 3D reciprocal space volume. The recovery quality is characterized by a "disconcurrence" metric. Our results show that while a water layer mitigates protein damage, the noise generated by the scattering from it can introduce challenges for orientation recovery and is anticipated to cause problems in the phase retrieval process to extract the desired protein structure. Compared to these disadvantageous effects due to the thick water layer, the effects of radiation damage on the orientation recovery are relatively small. Therefore, minimizing the amount of residual sample solvent should be considered a crucial step in improving the fidelity and resolution of X-ray single-particle imaging experiments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Juncheng E
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany.
| | - Michal Stransky
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
- Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Radzikowskiego 152, 31-342, Kraków, Poland
| | - Zhou Shen
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Zoltan Jurek
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - Richard Bean
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Robin Santra
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Notkestr. 9-11, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Beata Ziaja
- Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Radzikowskiego 152, 31-342, Kraków, Poland
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Adrian P Mancuso
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany.
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0DE, UK.
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Brodmerkel MN, De Santis E, Caleman C, Marklund EG. Rehydration Post-orientation: Investigating Field-Induced Structural Changes via Computational Rehydration. Protein J 2023:10.1007/s10930-023-10110-y. [PMID: 37031302 DOI: 10.1007/s10930-023-10110-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 04/10/2023]
Abstract
Proteins can be oriented in the gas phase using strong electric fields, which brings advantages for structure determination using X-ray free electron lasers. Both the vacuum conditions and the electric-field exposure risk damaging the protein structures. Here, we employ molecular dynamics simulations to rehydrate and relax vacuum and electric-field exposed proteins in aqueous solution, which simulates a refinement of structure models derived from oriented gas-phase proteins. We find that the impact of the strong electric fields on the protein structures is of minor importance after rehydration, compared to that of vacuum exposure and ionization in electrospraying. The structures did not fully relax back to their native structure in solution on the simulated timescales of 200 ns, but they recover several features, including native-like intra-protein contacts, which suggests that the structures remain in a state from which the fully native structure is accessible. Our findings imply that the electric fields used in native mass spectrometry are well below a destructive level, and suggest that structures inferred from X-ray diffraction from gas-phase proteins are relevant for solution and in vivo conditions, at least after in silico rehydration.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maxim N Brodmerkel
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, Box 576, 75123, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Emiliano De Santis
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, Box 576, 75123, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, 75120, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Carl Caleman
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, 75120, Uppsala, Sweden
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Erik G Marklund
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, Box 576, 75123, Uppsala, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Kumar A, Arantes PR, Saha A, Palermo G, Wong BM. GPU-Enhanced DFTB Metadynamics for Efficiently Predicting Free Energies of Biochemical Systems. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28031277. [PMID: 36770943 PMCID: PMC9920250 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28031277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2022] [Revised: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Metadynamics calculations of large chemical systems with ab initio methods are computationally prohibitive due to the extensive sampling required to simulate the large degrees of freedom in these systems. To address this computational bottleneck, we utilized a GPU-enhanced density functional tight binding (DFTB) approach on a massively parallelized cloud computing platform to efficiently calculate the thermodynamics and metadynamics of biochemical systems. To first validate our approach, we calculated the free-energy surfaces of alanine dipeptide and showed that our GPU-enhanced DFTB calculations qualitatively agree with computationally-intensive hybrid DFT benchmarks, whereas classical force fields give significant errors. Most importantly, we show that our GPU-accelerated DFTB calculations are significantly faster than previous approaches by up to two orders of magnitude. To further extend our GPU-enhanced DFTB approach, we also carried out a 10 ns metadynamics simulation of remdesivir, which is prohibitively out of reach for routine DFT-based metadynamics calculations. We find that the free-energy surfaces of remdesivir obtained from DFTB and classical force fields differ significantly, where the latter overestimates the internal energy contribution of high free-energy states. Taken together, our benchmark tests, analyses, and extensions to large biochemical systems highlight the use of GPU-enhanced DFTB simulations for efficiently predicting the free-energy surfaces/thermodynamics of large biochemical systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anshuman Kumar
- Materials Science & Engineering Program, University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Pablo R. Arantes
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Aakash Saha
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Giulia Palermo
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Bryan M. Wong
- Materials Science & Engineering Program, University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
- Correspondence:
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Esser TK, Böhning J, Fremdling P, Bharat T, Gault J, Rauschenbach S. Cryo-EM samples of gas-phase purified protein assemblies using native electrospray ion-beam deposition. Faraday Discuss 2022; 240:67-80. [PMID: 36065984 PMCID: PMC9641999 DOI: 10.1039/d2fd00065b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
An increasing number of studies on biomolecular function indirectly combine mass spectrometry (MS) with imaging techniques such as cryo electron microscopy (cryo-EM). This approach allows information on the homogeneity, stoichiometry, shape, and interactions of native protein complexes to be obtained, complementary to high-resolution protein structures. We have recently demonstrated TEM sample preparation via native electrospray ion-beam deposition (ES-IBD) as a direct link between native MS and cryo-EM. This workflow forms a potential new route to the reliable preparation of homogeneous cryo-EM samples and a better understanding of the relation between native solution-phase and native-like gas-phase structures. However, many aspects of the workflow need to be understood and optimized to obtain performance comparable to that of state-of-the-art cryo-EM. Here, we expand on the previous discussion of key factors by probing the effects of substrate type and deposition energy. We present and discuss micrographs from native ES-IBD samples with amorphous carbon, graphene, and graphene oxide, as well as landing energies in the range between 2 and 150 eV per charge.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tim K. Esser
- Department of Chemistry, University of OxfordOxfordOX1 3TFUK
| | - Jan Böhning
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of OxfordSouth Parks RoadOxfordOX1 3REUK
| | - Paul Fremdling
- Department of Chemistry, University of OxfordOxfordOX1 3TFUK
| | - Tanmay Bharat
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of OxfordSouth Parks RoadOxfordOX1 3REUK,Structural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular BiologyFrancis Crick AvenueCambridgeCB2 0QHUK
| | - Joseph Gault
- Department of Chemistry, University of OxfordOxfordOX1 3TFUK
| | - Stephan Rauschenbach
- Department of Chemistry, University of OxfordOxfordOX1 3TFUK,Max Planck Institute for Solid State ResearchHeisenbergstrasse 1StuttgartDE-70569Germany
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Brodmerkel MN, De Santis E, Uetrecht C, Caleman C, Marklund EG. Stability and conformational memory of electrosprayed and rehydrated bacteriophage MS2 virus coat proteins. Curr Res Struct Biol 2022; 4:338-348. [PMID: 36440379 PMCID: PMC9685359 DOI: 10.1016/j.crstbi.2022.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Revised: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Proteins are innately dynamic, which is important for their functions, but which also poses significant challenges when studying their structures. Gas-phase techniques can utilise separation and a range of sample manipulations to transcend some of the limitations of conventional techniques for structural biology in crystalline or solution phase, and isolate different states for separate interrogation. However, the transfer from solution to the gas phase risks affecting the structures, and it is unclear to what extent different conformations remain distinct in the gas phase, and if resolution in silico can recover the native conformations and their differences. Here, we use extensive molecular dynamics simulations to study the two distinct conformations of dimeric capsid protein of the MS2 bacteriophage. The protein undergoes notable restructuring of its peripheral parts in the gas phase, but subsequent simulation in solvent largely recovers the native structure. Our results suggest that despite some structural loss due to the experimental conditions, gas-phase structural biology techniques provide meaningful data that inform not only about the structures but also conformational dynamics of proteins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maxim N. Brodmerkel
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, Box 576, Uppsala, 75123, Sweden
| | - Emiliano De Santis
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, Box 576, Uppsala, 75123, Sweden
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, Uppsala, 75120, Sweden
| | - Charlotte Uetrecht
- Leibniz Institute of Virology (LIV), Hamburg, 20251, Germany
- Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB), Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, Hamburg, 22607, Germany
- School of Life Sciences, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Carl Caleman
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, Uppsala, 75120, Sweden
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, Hamburg, 22607, Germany
| | - Erik G. Marklund
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University, Box 576, Uppsala, 75123, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Esser TK, Böhning J, Fremdling P, Agasid MT, Costin A, Fort K, Konijnenberg A, Gilbert JD, Bahm A, Makarov A, Robinson CV, Benesch JLP, Baker L, Bharat TAM, Gault J, Rauschenbach S. Mass-selective and ice-free electron cryomicroscopy protein sample preparation via native electrospray ion-beam deposition. PNAS NEXUS 2022; 1:pgac153. [PMID: 36714824 PMCID: PMC9802471 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Despite tremendous advances in sample preparation and classification algorithms for electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) and single-particle analysis (SPA), sample heterogeneity remains a major challenge and can prevent access to high-resolution structures. In addition, optimization of preparation conditions for a given sample can be time-consuming. In the current work, it is demonstrated that native electrospray ion-beam deposition (native ES-IBD) is an alternative, reliable approach for the preparation of extremely high-purity samples, based on mass selection in vacuum. Folded protein ions are generated by native electrospray ionization, separated from other proteins, contaminants, aggregates, and fragments, gently deposited on cryo-EM grids, frozen in liquid nitrogen, and subsequently imaged by cryo-EM. We demonstrate homogeneous coverage of ice-free cryo-EM grids with mass-selected protein complexes. SPA reveals that the complexes remain folded and assembled, but variations in secondary and tertiary structures are currently limiting information in 2D classes and 3D EM density maps. We identify and discuss challenges that need to be addressed to obtain a resolution comparable to that of the established cryo-EM workflow. Our results show the potential of native ES-IBD to increase the scope and throughput of cryo-EM for protein structure determination and provide an essential link between gas-phase and solution-phase protein structures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jan Böhning
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RE, UK
| | - Paul Fremdling
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TA, UK
| | | | | | - Kyle Fort
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, Hanna-Kunath-Straße 11, 28199 Bremen, Germany
| | - Albert Konijnenberg
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, Zwaanstraat 31G/H, 5651 CA Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Joshua D Gilbert
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, 5350 NE Dawson Creek Drive, Hillsboro, OR 97124, USA
| | - Alan Bahm
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, 5350 NE Dawson Creek Drive, Hillsboro, OR 97124, USA
| | - Alexander Makarov
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, Hanna-Kunath-Straße 11, 28199 Bremen, Germany,Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Utrecht, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Carol V Robinson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TA, UK
| | - Justin L P Benesch
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TA, UK
| | | | - Tanmay A M Bharat
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RE, UK,Structural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Johnson SI, Baer MD, Raugei S. Protonation of Serine in Gas and Condensed and Microsolvated States in Aqueous Solution. J Phys Chem A 2021; 126:44-52. [PMID: 34941278 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.1c08795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Identification of molecules and elucidation of their chemical structure are ubiquitous problems in chemistry. Mass spectrometry (MS) can be used due to its sensitivity and versatility. For detection to occur, analytes must be ionized and transferred to the gas phase. Soft ionization processes such as electrospray ionization are popular; however, resulting microsolvated phases can alter the chemistry of analytes and therefore detection and identification. To understand these processes, we use computational methods to probe the ionization propensity of serine in the gas phase, aqueous microsolvated clusters, and aqueous solution. We show that the tautomeric form of serine is altered by the presence of water, as five water molecules can stabilize the zwitterionic tautomer. Inclusion of cosolutes such as ions can stabilize the zwitterion with as few as one or two water molecules present. We demonstrate that ionization propensity, as measured by gas phase bacisity, can increase by over 100 kJ/mol when placed in a small water-serine cluster, showing the sensitivity of the chemistry of microsolvated analytes. Finally, detailed analysis reveals that small droplets (less than seven water molecules) are extremely sensitive to addition of further water molecules. Beyond this limit, structural and electronic properties change little with droplet size.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Samantha I Johnson
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99354, United States
| | - Marcel D Baer
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99354, United States
| | - Simone Raugei
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99354, United States
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
In a flash of light: X-ray free electron lasers meet native mass spectrometry. DRUG DISCOVERY TODAY. TECHNOLOGIES 2021; 39:89-99. [PMID: 34906329 DOI: 10.1016/j.ddtec.2021.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Revised: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
During the last years, X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) have emerged as X-ray sources of unparalleled brightness, delivering extreme amounts of photons in femtosecond pulses. As such, they have opened up completely new possibilities in drug discovery and structural biology, including studying high resolution biomolecular structures and their functioning in a time resolved manner, and diffractive imaging of single particles without the need for their crystallization. In this perspective, we briefly review the operation of XFELs, their immediate uses for drug discovery and focus on the potentially revolutionary single particle diffractive imaging technique and the challenges which remain to be overcome to fully realize its potential to provide high resolution structures without the need for crystallization, freezing or the need to keep proteins stable at extreme concentrations for long periods of time. As the issues have been to a large extent sample delivery related, we outline a way for native mass spectrometry to overcome these and enable so far impossible research with a potentially huge impact on structural biology and drug discovery, such as studying structures of transient intermediate species in viral life cycles or during functioning of molecular machines.
Collapse
|
15
|
Sinelnikova A, Mandl T, Agelii H, Grånäs O, Marklund EG, Caleman C, De Santis E. Protein orientation in time-dependent electric fields: orientation before destruction. Biophys J 2021; 120:3709-3717. [PMID: 34303701 PMCID: PMC8456286 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.07.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Revised: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Proteins often have nonzero electric dipole moments, making them interact with external electric fields and offering a means for controlling their orientation. One application that is known to benefit from orientation control is single-particle imaging with x-ray free-electron lasers, in which diffraction is recorded from proteins in the gas phase to determine their structures. To this point, theoretical investigations into this phenomenon have assumed that the field experienced by the proteins is constant or a perfect step function, whereas any real-world pulse will be smooth. Here, we explore the possibility of orienting gas-phase proteins using time-dependent electric fields. We performed ab initio simulations to estimate the field strength required to break protein bonds, with 45 V/nm as a breaking point value. We then simulated ubiquitin in time-dependent electric fields using classical molecular dynamics. The minimal field strength required for orientation within 10 ns was on the order of 0.5 V/nm. Although high fields can be destructive for the structure, the structures in our simulations were preserved until orientation was achieved regardless of field strength, a principle we denote “orientation before destruction.”
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Sinelnikova
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Thomas Mandl
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien, Wien, Austria
| | - Harald Agelii
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Oscar Grånäs
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Erik G Marklund
- Department of Chemistry BMC, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Carl Caleman
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Emiliano De Santis
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Chemistry BMC, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Spoel D, Zhang J, Zhang H. Quantitative predictions from molecular simulations using explicit or implicit interactions. WIRES COMPUTATIONAL MOLECULAR SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/wcms.1560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- David Spoel
- Uppsala Center for Computational Chemistry, Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden
| | - Jin Zhang
- Department of Chemistry Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen China
| | - Haiyang Zhang
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering University of Science and Technology Beijing Beijing China
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Sinelnikova A, Mandl T, Östlin C, Grånäs O, Brodmerkel MN, Marklund EG, Caleman C. Reproducibility in the unfolding process of protein induced by an external electric field. Chem Sci 2020; 12:2030-2038. [PMID: 34163965 PMCID: PMC8179335 DOI: 10.1039/d0sc06008a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The dynamics of proteins are crucial for their function. However, commonly used techniques for studying protein structures are limited in monitoring time-resolved dynamics at high resolution. Combining electric fields with existing techniques to study gas-phase proteins, such as single particle imaging using free-electron lasers and gas-phase small angle X-ray scattering, has the potential to open up a new era in time-resolved studies of gas-phase protein dynamics. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we identify well-defined unfolding pathways of a protein, induced by experimentally achievable external electric fields. Our simulations show that strong electric fields in conjunction with short-pulsed X-ray sources such as free-electron lasers can be a new path for imaging dynamics of gas-phase proteins at high spatial and temporal resolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Sinelnikova
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University Box 516 SE-751 20 Uppsala Sweden
| | - Thomas Mandl
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University Box 516 SE-751 20 Uppsala Sweden .,University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien Höchstädtplatz 6 A-1200 Wien Austria
| | - Christofer Östlin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University Box 516 SE-751 20 Uppsala Sweden
| | - Oscar Grånäs
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University Box 516 SE-751 20 Uppsala Sweden
| | - Maxim N Brodmerkel
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University Box 576 SE-751 23 Uppsala Sweden
| | - Erik G Marklund
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University Box 576 SE-751 23 Uppsala Sweden
| | - Carl Caleman
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University Box 516 SE-751 20 Uppsala Sweden .,Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY Notkestrasse 85 DE-22607 Hamburg Germany
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Mandl T, Östlin C, Dawod IE, Brodmerkel MN, Marklund EG, Martin AV, Timneanu N, Caleman C. Structural Heterogeneity in Single Particle Imaging Using X-ray Lasers. J Phys Chem Lett 2020; 11:6077-6083. [PMID: 32578996 PMCID: PMC7416308 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c01144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
One of the challenges facing single particle imaging with ultrafast X-ray pulses is the structural heterogeneity of the sample to be imaged. For the method to succeed with weakly scattering samples, the diffracted images from a large number of individual proteins need to be averaged. The more the individual proteins differ in structure, the lower the achievable resolution in the final reconstructed image. We use molecular dynamics to simulate two globular proteins in vacuum, fully desolvated as well as with two different solvation layers, at various temperatures. We calculate the diffraction patterns based on the simulations and evaluate the noise in the averaged patterns arising from the structural differences and the surrounding water. Our simulations show that the presence of a minimal water coverage with an average 3 Å thickness will stabilize the protein, reducing the noise associated with structural heterogeneity, whereas additional water will generate more background noise.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Mandl
- Department
of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
- University
of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien, Höchstädtplatz 6, A-1200 Wien, Austria
| | - Christofer Östlin
- Department
of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ibrahim E. Dawod
- Department
of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
- European
XFEL GmbH, Holzkoppel
4, DE-22869 Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Maxim N. Brodmerkel
- Department
of Chemistry—BMC, Uppsala University, Box 576, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Erik G. Marklund
- Department
of Chemistry—BMC, Uppsala University, Box 576, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Andrew V. Martin
- School
of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
- ARC Centre
of Excellence for Advanced Molecular Imaging, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Nicusor Timneanu
- Department
of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Carl Caleman
- Department
of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
- Center
for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches
Elektronen-Synchrotron, Notkestraße 85, DE-22607 Hamburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Bielecki J, Maia FRNC, Mancuso AP. Perspectives on single particle imaging with x rays at the advent of high repetition rate x-ray free electron laser sources. STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS (MELVILLE, N.Y.) 2020; 7:040901. [PMID: 32818147 PMCID: PMC7413746 DOI: 10.1063/4.0000024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/21/2020] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) now routinely produce millijoule level pulses of x-ray photons with tens of femtoseconds duration. Such x-ray intensities gave rise to the idea that weakly scattering particles-perhaps single biomolecules or viruses-could be investigated free of radiation damage. Here, we examine elements from the past decade of so-called single particle imaging with hard XFELs. We look at the progress made to date and identify some future possible directions for the field. In particular, we summarize the presently achieved resolutions as well as identifying the bottlenecks and enabling technologies to future resolution improvement, which in turn enables application to samples of scientific interest.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Johan Bielecki
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869 Schenefeld, Germany
- Author to whom correspondence should be addressed:
| | - Filipe R. N. C. Maia
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124 Uppsala, Sweden
| | | |
Collapse
|
20
|
Östlin C, Timneanu N, Caleman C, Martin AV. Is radiation damage the limiting factor in high-resolution single particle imaging with X-ray free-electron lasers? STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS (MELVILLE, N.Y.) 2019; 6:044103. [PMID: 31463335 PMCID: PMC6701976 DOI: 10.1063/1.5098309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 07/31/2019] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The prospect of single particle imaging with atomic resolution is one of the scientific drivers for the development of X-ray free-electron lasers. The assumption since the beginning has been that damage to the sample caused by intense X-ray pulses is one of the limiting factors for achieving subnanometer X-ray imaging of single particles and that X-ray pulses need to be as short as possible. Based on the molecular dynamics simulations of proteins in X-ray fields of various durations (5 fs, 25 fs, and 50 fs), we show that the noise in the diffracted signal caused by radiation damage is less than what can be expected from other sources, such as sample inhomogeneity and X-ray shot-to-shot variations. These findings show a different aspect of the feasibility of high-resolution single particle imaging using free-electron lasers, where employing X-ray pulses of longer durations could still provide a useful diffraction signal above the noise due to the Coulomb explosion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C Östlin
- Molecular and Condensed Matter Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - N Timneanu
- Molecular and Condensed Matter Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - C Caleman
- Molecular and Condensed Matter Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - A V Martin
- School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Östlin C, Tîmneanu N, Jönsson HO, Ekeberg T, Martin AV, Caleman C. Reproducibility of single protein explosions induced by X-ray lasers. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018; 20:12381-12389. [PMID: 29488514 DOI: 10.1039/c7cp07267h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Single particle imaging (SPI) using X-ray pulses has become increasingly attainable with the advent of high-intensity free electron lasers. Eliminating the need for crystallized samples enables structural studies of molecules previously inaccessible by conventional crystallography. While this emerging technique already demonstrates substantial promise, some obstacles need to be overcome before SPI can reach its full potential. One such problem is determining the spatial orientation of the sample at the time of X-ray interaction. Existing solutions rely on diffraction data and are computationally demanding and sensitive to noise. In this in silico study, we explore the possibility of aiding these methods by mapping the ion distribution as the sample undergoes a Coulomb explosion following the intense ionization. By detecting the ions ejected from the fragmented sample, the orientation of the original sample should be possible to determine. Knowledge of the orientation has been shown earlier to be of substantial advantage in the reconstruction of the original structure. 150 explosions of each of twelve separate systems - four polypeptides with different amounts of surface bound water - were simulated with molecular dynamics (MD) and the average angular distribution of carbon and sulfur ions was investigated independently. The results show that the explosion maps are reproducible in both cases, supporting the idea that orientation information is preserved. Additional water seems to restrict the carbon ion trajectories further through a shielding mechanism, making the maps more distinct. For sulfurs, water has no significant impact on the trajectories, likely due to their higher mass and greater ionization cross section, indicating that they could be of particular interest. Based on these findings, we conclude that explosion data can aid spatial orientation in SPI experiments and could substantially improve the capabilities of the novel technique.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christofer Östlin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
22
|
Abstract
Water has a profound effect on the dynamics of biomolecules and governs many biological processes, leading to the concept that function is slaved to solvent dynamics within and surrounding the biomolecule. Protein conformational changes on μs-ms time scales are frequently associated with protein function, but little is known about the behavior of protein-bound water on these time scales. Here we have used NMR relaxation dispersion measurements to probe the tryptophan indoles in the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). We find that during structural changes on the μs-ms time scale, large chemical shift changes are often observed for the NH proton on the indole ring, while relatively smaller chemical shift changes are observed for the ring nitrogen atom. Comparison with experimental chemical shifts and density functional theory-based chemical shift predictions show that during the structural change the tryptophan indole NHs remain bound to water, but the geometry of the protein-bound water networks changes. These results establish that relaxation dispersion measurements can indirectly probe water dynamics and indicate that water can influence, or be influenced by, protein conformational changes on the μs-ms time scale. Our data show that structurally conserved bound water molecules can play a critical role in transmitting information between functionally important regions of the protein and provide evidence that internal protein motions can be coupled through the mediation of hydrogen-bonded water bound in the protein structure.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R. Bryn Fenwick
- The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla CA 92037
| | - David Oyen
- The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla CA 92037
| | - H. Jane Dyson
- The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla CA 92037
| | - Peter E. Wright
- The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla CA 92037
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Marklund EG, Ekeberg T, Moog M, Benesch JLP, Caleman C. Controlling Protein Orientation in Vacuum Using Electric Fields. J Phys Chem Lett 2017; 8:4540-4544. [PMID: 28862456 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b02005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Single-particle imaging using X-ray free-electron lasers is an emerging technique that could provide high-resolution structures of macromolecules in the gas phase. One of the largest difficulties in realizing this goal is the unknown orientation of the individual sample molecules at the time of exposure. Preorientation of the molecules has been identified as a possible solution to this problem. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we identify a range of electric field strengths where proteins become oriented without losing their structure. For a number of experimentally relevant cases we show that structure determination is possible only when orientation information is included in the orientation-recovery process. We conclude that nondestructive field orientation of intact proteins is feasible and that it enables a range of new structural investigations with single-particle imaging.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Erik G Marklund
- Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University , Box 576, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden
- Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford , South Parks Road, Oxford GB-OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom
| | - Tomas Ekeberg
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron , DE-22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Mathieu Moog
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University , Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Justin L P Benesch
- Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford , South Parks Road, Oxford GB-OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom
| | - Carl Caleman
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron , DE-22607 Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University , Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Thirumuruganandham SP, Gómez EA, Lakshmanan S, Hamblin MR. Terahertz Frequency Spectroscopy to Determine Cold Shock Protein Stability upon Solvation and Evaporation - A Molecular Dynamics Study. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON TERAHERTZ SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 2017; 7:131-143. [PMID: 30881732 PMCID: PMC6419770 DOI: 10.1109/tthz.2016.2637380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Infrared (IR) and Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy simulations were carried out using CHARMM35b2 to determine protein stability. The stabilities of three bacterial cold shock proteins (Csps) originating from mesophiles, thermophiles and hyper- thermophiles respectively were investigated in this study. The three different Csps were investigated by Normal-Mode analysis and Molecular Dynamics simulation of THz spectra using the Hessian matrix for solvated systems, interpreted in the harmonic approximation at optimum near-melting temperatures of each homologue, by incorporating differences in the hydrous and anhydrous states of the Csps. The results show slight variations in the large scale protein motion. However, the IR spectra of Csps observed at the low frequency saddle surface region, clearly distinguishes the thermophilic and mesophilic proteins based on their stability. Further studies on protein stability employing low-frequency collective modes have the potential to reveal functionally important conformational changes that are biologically significant.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Edgar A Gómez
- Programa de Física, Universidad del Quindío, Armenia, Colombia
| | - Shanmugamurthy Lakshmanan
- Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Michael R Hamblin
- Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Landreh M, Marklund EG, Uzdavinys P, Degiacomi MT, Coincon M, Gault J, Gupta K, Liko I, Benesch JLP, Drew D, Robinson CV. Integrating mass spectrometry with MD simulations reveals the role of lipids in Na +/H + antiporters. Nat Commun 2017; 8:13993. [PMID: 28071645 PMCID: PMC5234078 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2016] [Accepted: 11/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Na+/H+ antiporters are found in all kingdoms of life and exhibit catalysis rates that are among the fastest of all known secondary-active transporters. Here we combine ion mobility mass spectrometry and molecular dynamics simulations to study the conformational stability and lipid-binding properties of the Na+/H+ exchanger NapA from Thermus thermophilus and compare this to the prototypical antiporter NhaA from Escherichia coli and the human homologue NHA2. We find that NapA and NHA2, but not NhaA, form stable dimers and do not selectively retain membrane lipids. By comparing wild-type NapA with engineered variants, we show that the unfolding of the protein in the gas phase involves the disruption of inter-domain contacts. Lipids around the domain interface protect the native fold in the gas phase by mediating contacts between the mobile protein segments. We speculate that elevator-type antiporters such as NapA, and likely NHA2, use a subset of annular lipids as structural support to facilitate large-scale conformational changes within the membrane.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael Landreh
- Department of Chemistry, Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3QZ, UK
| | - Erik G. Marklund
- Department of Chemistry, Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3QZ, UK
- Department of Chemistry–BMC, Uppsala University, Box 576, Uppsala SE-751 23, Sweden
| | - Povilas Uzdavinys
- Centre for Biomembrane Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-106 91, Sweden
| | - Matteo T. Degiacomi
- Department of Chemistry, Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3QZ, UK
| | - Mathieu Coincon
- Centre for Biomembrane Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-106 91, Sweden
| | - Joseph Gault
- Department of Chemistry, Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3QZ, UK
| | - Kallol Gupta
- Department of Chemistry, Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3QZ, UK
| | - Idlir Liko
- Department of Chemistry, Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3QZ, UK
| | - Justin L. P. Benesch
- Department of Chemistry, Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3QZ, UK
| | - David Drew
- Centre for Biomembrane Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-106 91, Sweden
| | - Carol V. Robinson
- Department of Chemistry, Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3QZ, UK
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Pharmaceutical Applications of Electrospraying. J Pharm Sci 2016; 105:2601-2620. [DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2016.04.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2016] [Revised: 04/14/2016] [Accepted: 04/22/2016] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
|
27
|
Bellissent-Funel MC, Hassanali A, Havenith M, Henchman R, Pohl P, Sterpone F, van der Spoel D, Xu Y, Garcia AE. Water Determines the Structure and Dynamics of Proteins. Chem Rev 2016; 116:7673-97. [PMID: 27186992 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 540] [Impact Index Per Article: 67.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Water is an essential participant in the stability, structure, dynamics, and function of proteins and other biomolecules. Thermodynamically, changes in the aqueous environment affect the stability of biomolecules. Structurally, water participates chemically in the catalytic function of proteins and nucleic acids and physically in the collapse of the protein chain during folding through hydrophobic collapse and mediates binding through the hydrogen bond in complex formation. Water is a partner that slaves the dynamics of proteins, and water interaction with proteins affect their dynamics. Here we provide a review of the experimental and computational advances over the past decade in understanding the role of water in the dynamics, structure, and function of proteins. We focus on the combination of X-ray and neutron crystallography, NMR, terahertz spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, thermodynamics, and computer simulations to reveal how water assist proteins in their function. The recent advances in computer simulations and the enhanced sensitivity of experimental tools promise major advances in the understanding of protein dynamics, and water surely will be a protagonist.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ali Hassanali
- International Center for Theoretical Physics, Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics 34151 Trieste, Italy
| | - Martina Havenith
- Ruhr-Universität Bochum , Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry Universitätsstraße 150 Building NC 7/72, D-44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Richard Henchman
- Manchester Institute of Biotechnology The University of Manchester , 131 Princess Street, Manchester M1 7DN, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Pohl
- Johannes Kepler University , Gruberstrasse, 40 4020 Linz, Austria
| | - Fabio Sterpone
- Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique 13 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - David van der Spoel
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Computational and Systems Biology, Uppsala University , 751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Yao Xu
- Ruhr-Universität Bochum , Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry Universitätsstraße 150 Building NC 7/72, D-44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Angel E Garcia
- Center for Non Linear Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratory , Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, United States
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Li J, Santambrogio C, Brocca S, Rossetti G, Carloni P, Grandori R. Conformational effects in protein electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry. MASS SPECTROMETRY REVIEWS 2016; 35:111-22. [PMID: 25952139 DOI: 10.1002/mas.21465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2014] [Accepted: 01/14/2015] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is a key tool of structural biology, complementing the information delivered by conventional biochemical and biophysical methods. Yet, the mechanism behind the conformational effects in protein ESI-MS is an object of debate. Two parameters-solvent-accessible surface area (As) and apparent gas-phase basicity (GBapp)-are thought to play a role in controlling the extent of protein ionization during ESI-MS experiments. This review focuses on recent experimental and theoretical investigations concerning the influence of these parameters on ESI-MS results and the structural information that can be derived. The available evidence supports a unified model for the ionization mechanism of folded and unfolded proteins. These data indicate that charge-state distribution (CSD) analysis can provide valuable structural information on normally folded, as well as disordered structures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jinyu Li
- Computational Biophysics, German Research School for Simulation Sciences, and Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, RWTH Aachen University, 52057 Aachen, Germany
| | - Carlo Santambrogio
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Stefania Brocca
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Giulia Rossetti
- Computational Biophysics, German Research School for Simulation Sciences, and Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Paolo Carloni
- Computational Biophysics, German Research School for Simulation Sciences, and Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Rita Grandori
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Collision Cross Sections for Structural Proteomics. Structure 2015; 23:791-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2015.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 191] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2014] [Revised: 02/13/2015] [Accepted: 02/18/2015] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
|
30
|
Molecular simulation-based structural prediction of protein complexes in mass spectrometry: the human insulin dimer. PLoS Comput Biol 2014; 10:e1003838. [PMID: 25210764 PMCID: PMC4161290 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2014] [Accepted: 07/26/2014] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Protein electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry (MS)-based techniques are widely used to provide insight into structural proteomics under the assumption that non-covalent protein complexes being transferred into the gas phase preserve basically the same intermolecular interactions as in solution. Here we investigate the applicability of this assumption by extending our previous structural prediction protocol for single proteins in ESI-MS to protein complexes. We apply our protocol to the human insulin dimer (hIns2) as a test case. Our calculations reproduce the main charge and the collision cross section (CCS) measured in ESI-MS experiments. Molecular dynamics simulations for 0.075 ms show that the complex maximizes intermolecular non-bonded interactions relative to the structure in water, without affecting the cross section. The overall gas-phase structure of hIns2 does exhibit differences with the one in aqueous solution, not inferable from a comparison with calculated CCS. Hence, care should be exerted when interpreting ESI-MS proteomics data based solely on NMR and/or X-ray structural information.
Collapse
|
31
|
Favi PM, Zhang Q, O'Neill H, Mamontov E, Diallo SO. Dynamics of lysozyme and its hydration water under an electric field. J Biol Phys 2014; 40:167-78. [PMID: 24664796 DOI: 10.1007/s10867-014-9343-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2013] [Accepted: 02/04/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The effects of a static electric field on the dynamics of lysozyme and its hydration water are investigated by means of incoherent quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS). Measurements were performed on lysozyme samples, hydrated respectively with heavy water (D2O) to capture the protein dynamics and with light water (H2O), to probe the dynamics of the hydration shell, in the temperature range from 210 < T < 260 K. The hydration fraction in both cases was about ∼ 0.38 gram of water per gram of dry protein. The field strengths investigated were respectively 0 kV/mm and 2 kV/mm (~2 × 10(6) V/m) for the protein hydrated with D2O and 0 kV and 1 kV/mm for the H2O-hydrated counterpart. While the overall internal protons dynamics of the protein appears to be unaffected by the application of an electric field up to 2 kV/mm, likely due to the stronger intra-molecular interactions, there is also no appreciable quantitative enhancement of the diffusive dynamics of the hydration water, as would be anticipated based on our recent observations in water confined in silica pores under field values of 2.5 kV/mm. This may be due to the difference in surface interactions between water and the two adsorption hosts (silica and protein), or to the existence of a critical threshold field value Ec ~2-3 kV/mm for increased molecular diffusion, for which electrical breakdown is a limitation for our sample.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- P M Favi
- Quantum Condensed Matter Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
32
|
Rouse SL, Marcoux J, Robinson CV, Sansom MSP. Dodecyl maltoside protects membrane proteins in vacuo. Biophys J 2014; 105:648-56. [PMID: 23931313 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2013.06.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2012] [Revised: 05/14/2013] [Accepted: 06/17/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to characterize the effects of transfer from aqueous solution to a vacuum to inform our understanding of mass spectrometry of membrane-protein-detergent complexes. We compared two membrane protein architectures (an α-helical bundle versus a β-barrel) and two different detergent types (phosphocholines versus an alkyl sugar) with respect to protein stability and detergent packing. The β-barrel membrane protein remained stable as a protein-detergent complex in vacuum. Zwitterionic detergents formed conformationally destabilizing interactions with an α-helical membrane protein after detergent micelle inversion driven by dehydration in vacuum. In contrast, a nonionic alkyl sugar detergent resisted micelle inversion, maintaining the solution-phase conformation of the protein. This helps to explain the relative stability of membrane proteins in the presence of alkyl sugar detergents such as dodecyl maltoside.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah L Rouse
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
33
|
Malevanets A, Consta S. Variation of droplet acidity during evaporation. J Chem Phys 2013; 138:184312. [DOI: 10.1063/1.4804303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
|
34
|
Meyer T, Gabelica V, Grubmüller H, Orozco M. Proteins in the gas phase. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-COMPUTATIONAL MOLECULAR SCIENCE 2012. [DOI: 10.1002/wcms.1130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
|
35
|
Hall Z, Robinson CV. Do charge state signatures guarantee protein conformations? JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MASS SPECTROMETRY 2012; 23:1161-8. [PMID: 22562394 DOI: 10.1007/s13361-012-0393-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2012] [Revised: 04/10/2012] [Accepted: 04/10/2012] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The extent to which proteins in the gas phase retain their condensed-phase structure is a hotly debated issue. Closely related to this is the degree to which the observed charge state reflects protein conformation. Evidence from electron capture dissociation, hydrogen/deuterium exchange, ion mobility, and molecular dynamics shows clearly that there is often a strong correlation between the degree of folding and charge state, with the most compact conformations observed for the lowest charge states. In this article, we address recent controversies surrounding the relationship between charge states and folding, focussing also on the manipulation of charge in solution and its effect on conformation. 'Supercharging' reagents that have been used to effect change in charge state can promote unfolding in the electrospray droplet. However for several protein complexes, supercharging does not appear to perturb the structure in that unfolding is not detected. Consequently, a higher charge state does not necessarily imply unfolding. Whilst the effect of charge manipulation on conformation remains controversial, there is strong evidence that a folded, compact state of a protein can survive in the gas phase, at least on a millisecond timescale. The exact nature of the side-chain packing and secondary structural elements in these compact states, however, remains elusive and prompts further research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zoe Hall
- Department of Chemistry, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QZ, UK
| | | |
Collapse
|
36
|
Kanev IL, Balabaev NK, Glyakina AV, Morozov VN. Computer Simulation of Gas-Phase Neutralization of Electrospray-Generated Protein Macroions. J Phys Chem B 2012; 116:5872-81. [DOI: 10.1021/jp300370r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Igor L. Kanev
- Institute of Theoretical and
Experimental Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia 142290
| | - Nikolay K. Balabaev
- Institute of Mathematical Problems
of Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia 142290
- Department of Bioengineering,
Faculty of Biology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia 119991
| | - Anna V. Glyakina
- Institute of Mathematical Problems
of Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia 142290
| | - Victor N. Morozov
- Institute of Theoretical and
Experimental Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia 142290
- The National Center for Biodefense
and Infectious Diseases, George Mason University, Manassas, Virginia 20110, United States
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Hall Z, Politis A, Bush MF, Smith LJ, Robinson CV. Charge-State Dependent Compaction and Dissociation of Protein Complexes: Insights from Ion Mobility and Molecular Dynamics. J Am Chem Soc 2012; 134:3429-38. [DOI: 10.1021/ja2096859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 206] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zoe Hall
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom
| | - Argyris Politis
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew F. Bush
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom
| | - Lorna J. Smith
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory,
South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QR, United Kingdom
| | - Carol V. Robinson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Hub JS, Caleman C, van der Spoel D. Organic molecules on the surface of water droplets – an energetic perspective. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2012; 14:9537-45. [DOI: 10.1039/c2cp40483d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
|
39
|
Sun SN, Urbassek HM. Role of cohesive energy in droplet fragmentation. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2011; 84:056315. [PMID: 22181506 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.84.056315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2011] [Revised: 10/28/2011] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Using molecular-dynamics simulation, we investigate the fragmentation behavior of droplets after collision with a wall. We demonstrate that the ratio of the impact to the cohesive energy E(coh) of the droplet is the key quantity characterizing the droplet fragmentation process. To show this both van der Waals-bonded Ar and N(2) droplets and polar H(2)O droplets are studied. If the impact energy per molecule E<(0.35-0.4)E(coh), the droplet is reflected without fragmenting. Beyond that impact energy fragmentation of the droplet abruptly starts. At E=E(coh), the fragmentation process already results in a fine dispersal of the droplet into daughter droplets; the maximum fragment contains only less than 4% of the initial droplet mass and around one-third of the droplet has been shattered into isolated molecules. The disintegration process continuously increases with collision energy. These findings are relevant for the process of droplet fragmentation as used in the method of impact desolvation of electrosprayed microdroplets mass spectrometry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Si Neng Sun
- Fachbereich Physik und Forschungszentrum für Optik und Materialwissenschaften OPTIMAS, Universität Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | | |
Collapse
|
40
|
Liu FF, Dong XY, He L, Middelberg APJ, Sun Y. Molecular insight into conformational transition of amyloid β-peptide 42 inhibited by (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate probed by molecular simulations. J Phys Chem B 2011; 115:11879-87. [PMID: 21899367 DOI: 10.1021/jp202640b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Considerable experimental evidence indicates that (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) inhibits the fibrillogenesis of Aβ(42) and alleviates its associated cytotoxicity. However, the molecular mechanism of the inhibition effect of EGCG on the conformational transition of Aβ(42) remains unclear due to the limitations of current experimental techniques. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations and molecular mechanics-Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) analysis were coupled to better understand the issue. It was found that the direct interactions between EGCG and the peptide are the origin of its inhibition effects. Specifically, EGCG molecules expel water from the surface of the Aβ(42), cluster with each other, and interact directly with the peptide. The results of free energy decomposition calculated by MM-PBSA indicate that the nonpolar term contributes more than 71% to the binding free energy of the EGCG-Aβ(42) complex, while polar interactions (i.e., hydrogen bonding) play a minor role. It was identified that there are 12 important residues of Aβ(42) that strongly interact with EGCG (Phe4, Arg5, Phe19, Phe20, Glu22, Lys28, Gly29, Leu34-Gly37, and Ile41), while nonpolar interactions are mainly provided by the side chains of some hydrophobic residues (Phe, Met and Ile) and the main chains of some nonhydrophobic residues (Lys28 and Gly29). On the contrary, polar interactions are mainly formed by the main chain of Aβ(42), of which the main chains of Gly29 and Gly37 contribute greatly. The work has thus elucidated the molecular mechanism of the inhibition effect of EGCG on the conformational transition of Aβ(42), and the findings are considered critical for exploring more effective agents for the inhibition of Aβ(42) fibrillogenesis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fu-Feng Liu
- Department of Biochemical Engineering and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering of the Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
41
|
Silva DA, Domínguez-Ramírez L, Rojo-Domínguez A, Sosa-Peinado A. Conformational dynamics of L-lysine, L-arginine, L-ornithine binding protein reveals ligand-dependent plasticity. Proteins 2011; 79:2097-108. [DOI: 10.1002/prot.23030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2010] [Revised: 02/18/2011] [Accepted: 03/03/2011] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
|
42
|
Wang F, Weckert E, Ziaja B, Larsson DSD, van der Spoel D. Coherent diffraction of a single virus particle: the impact of a water layer on the available orientational information. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2011; 83:031907. [PMID: 21517525 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.83.031907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2010] [Revised: 12/13/2010] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Coherent diffractive imaging using x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) may provide a unique opportunity for high-resolution structural analysis of single particles sprayed from an aqueous solution into the laser beam. As a result, diffraction images are measured from randomly oriented objects covered by a water layer. We analyze theoretically how the thickness of the covering water layer influences the structural and orientational information contained in the recorded diffraction images. This study has implications for planned experiments on single-particle imaging with XFELs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- F Wang
- HASYLAB, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Notkestrasse 85, D-22607 Hamburg, Germany.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
43
|
van der Spoel D, Marklund EG, Larsson DSD, Caleman C. Proteins, Lipids, and Water in the Gas Phase. Macromol Biosci 2010; 11:50-9. [DOI: 10.1002/mabi.201000291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
|
44
|
Water evaporation and conformational changes from partially solvated ubiquitin. Biochem Res Int 2010; 2010:213936. [PMID: 21188070 PMCID: PMC3005806 DOI: 10.1155/2010/213936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2010] [Accepted: 09/16/2010] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Using molecular dynamics simulation, we study the evaporation of water molecules off partially solvated ubiquitin. The evaporation and cooling rates are determined for a molecule at the initial temperature of 300 K. The cooling rate is found to be around 3 K/ns, and decreases with water temperature in the course of the evaporation. The conformation changes are monitored by studying a variety of intermediate partially solvated ubiquitin structures. We find that ubiquitin shrinks with decreasing hydration shell and exposes more of its hydrophilic surface area to the surrounding.
Collapse
|
45
|
Friemann R, Larsson DSD, Wang Y, van der Spoel D. Molecular Dynamics Simulations of a Membrane Protein−Micelle Complex in Vacuo. J Am Chem Soc 2009; 131:16606-7. [DOI: 10.1021/ja902962y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rosmarie Friemann
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Box 596, SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Daniel S. D. Larsson
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Box 596, SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Yaofeng Wang
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Box 596, SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - David van der Spoel
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Box 596, SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|