1
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Zhu Q, Soudackov AV, Tommos C, Hammes-Schiffer S. Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer upon Oxidation of Tyrosine in a De Novo Protein: Analysis of Proton Acceptor Candidates. Biochemistry 2024; 63:1999-2008. [PMID: 39024184 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.4c00211] [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: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
Redox-active residues, such as tyrosine and tryptophan, play important roles in a wide range of biological processes. The α3Y de novo protein, which is composed of three α helices and a tyrosine residue Y32, provides a platform for investigating the redox properties of tyrosine in a well-defined protein environment. Herein, the proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reaction that occurs upon oxidation of tyrosine in this model protein by a ruthenium photosensitizer is studied by using a vibronically nonadiabatic PCET theory that includes hydrogen tunneling and excited vibronic states. The input quantities to the analytical nonadiabatic rate constant expression, such as the diabatic proton potential energy curves and associated proton vibrational wave functions, reorganization energy, and proton donor-acceptor distribution functions, are obtained from density functional theory calculations on model systems and molecular dynamics simulations of the solvated α3Y protein. Two possible proton acceptors, namely, water or a glutamate residue in the protein scaffold, are explored. The PCET rate constant is greater when glutamate is the proton acceptor, mainly due to the more favorable driving force and shorter equilibrium proton donor-acceptor distance, although contributions from excited vibronic states mitigate these effects. Nevertheless, water could be the dominant proton acceptor if its equilibrium constant associated with hydrogen bond formation is significantly greater than that for glutamate. Although these calculations do not definitively identify the proton acceptor for this PCET reaction, they elucidate the conditions under which each proton acceptor can be favored. These insights have implications for tyrosine-based PCET in a wide variety of biochemical processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiwen Zhu
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States
| | - Alexander V Soudackov
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States
| | - Cecilia Tommos
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Sharon Hammes-Schiffer
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
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2
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Pöverlein MC, Hulm A, Dietschreit JCB, Kussmann J, Ochsenfeld C, Kaila VRI. QM/MM Free Energy Calculations of Long-Range Biological Protonation Dynamics by Adaptive and Focused Sampling. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:5751-5762. [PMID: 38718352 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00199] [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: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
Water-mediated proton transfer reactions are central for catalytic processes in a wide range of biochemical systems, ranging from biological energy conversion to chemical transformations in the metabolism. Yet, the accurate computational treatment of such complex biochemical reactions is highly challenging and requires the application of multiscale methods, in particular hybrid quantum/classical (QM/MM) approaches combined with free energy simulations. Here, we combine the unique exploration power of new advanced sampling methods with density functional theory (DFT)-based QM/MM free energy methods for multiscale simulations of long-range protonation dynamics in biological systems. In this regard, we show that combining multiple walkers/well-tempered metadynamics with an extended system adaptive biasing force method (MWE) provides a powerful approach for exploration of water-mediated proton transfer reactions in complex biochemical systems. We compare and combine the MWE method also with QM/MM umbrella sampling and explore the sampling of the free energy landscape with both geometric (linear combination of proton transfer distances) and physical (center of excess charge) reaction coordinates and show how these affect the convergence of the potential of mean force (PMF) and the activation free energy. We find that the QM/MM-MWE method can efficiently explore both direct and water-mediated proton transfer pathways together with forward and reverse hole transfer mechanisms in the highly complex proton channel of respiratory Complex I, while the QM/MM-US approach shows a systematic convergence of selected long-range proton transfer pathways. In this regard, we show that the PMF along multiple proton transfer pathways is recovered by combining the strengths of both approaches in a QM/MM-MWE/focused US (FUS) scheme and reveals new mechanistic insight into the proton transfer principles of Complex I. Our findings provide a promising basis for the quantitative multiscale simulations of long-range proton transfer reactions in biological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian C Pöverlein
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Andreas Hulm
- Chair of Theoretical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Munich (LMU), 81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Johannes C B Dietschreit
- Chair of Theoretical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Munich (LMU), 81377 Munich, Germany
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Jörg Kussmann
- Chair of Theoretical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Munich (LMU), 81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Christian Ochsenfeld
- Chair of Theoretical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Munich (LMU), 81377 Munich, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Ville R I Kaila
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
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3
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Kaiser S, Yue Z, Peng Y, Nguyen TD, Chen S, Teng D, Voth GA. Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Complex Reactivity with the Rapid Approach for Proton Transport and Other Reactions (RAPTOR) Software Package. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:4959-4974. [PMID: 38742764 PMCID: PMC11129700 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.4c01987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2024] [Revised: 05/05/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Simulating chemically reactive phenomena such as proton transport on nanosecond to microsecond and beyond time scales is a challenging task. Ab initio methods are unable to currently access these time scales routinely, and traditional molecular dynamics methods feature fixed bonding arrangements that cannot account for changes in the system's bonding topology. The Multiscale Reactive Molecular Dynamics (MS-RMD) method, as implemented in the Rapid Approach for Proton Transport and Other Reactions (RAPTOR) software package for the LAMMPS molecular dynamics code, offers a method to routinely sample longer time scale reactive simulation data with statistical precision. RAPTOR may also be interfaced with enhanced sampling methods to drive simulations toward the analysis of reactive rare events, and a number of collective variables (CVs) have been developed to facilitate this. Key advances to this methodology, including GPU acceleration efforts and novel CVs to model water wire formation are reviewed, along with recent applications of the method which demonstrate its versatility and robustness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott Kaiser
- Department
of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck
Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Zhi Yue
- Department
of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck
Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Yuxing Peng
- NVIDIA
Corporation, Santa
Clara, California 95051, United States
| | - Trung Dac Nguyen
- Research
Computing Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Sijia Chen
- Department
of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck
Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Da Teng
- Department
of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck
Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Gregory A. Voth
- Department
of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck
Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
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4
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Deng J, Cui Q. Efficient Sampling of Cavity Hydration in Proteins with Nonequilibrium Grand Canonical Monte Carlo and Polarizable Force Fields. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:1897-1911. [PMID: 38417108 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00013] [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: 03/01/2024]
Abstract
Prediction of the hydration levels of protein cavities and active sites is important to both mechanistic analysis and ligand design. Due to the unique microscopic environment of these buried water molecules, a polarizable model is expected to be crucial for an accurate treatment of protein internal hydration in simulations. Here we adapt a nonequilibrium candidate Monte Carlo approach for conducting grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations with the Drude polarizable force field. The GPU implementation enables the efficient sampling of internal cavity hydration levels in biomolecular systems. We also develop an enhanced sampling approach referred to as B-walking, which satisfies detailed balance and readily combines with grand canonical integration to efficiently calculate quantitative binding free energies of water to protein cavities. Applications of these developments are illustrated in a solvent box and the polar ligand binding site in trypsin. Our simulation results show that including electronic polarization leads to a modest but clear improvement in the description of water position and occupancy compared to the crystal structure. The B-walking approach enhances the range of water sampling in different chemical potential windows and thus improves the accuracy of water binding free energy calculations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiahua Deng
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Qiang Cui
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
- Department of Physics, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 44 Cummington Mall, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
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5
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Costa GJ, Egbemhenghe A, Liang R. Computational Characterization of the Reactivity of Compound I in Unspecific Peroxygenases. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:10987-10999. [PMID: 38096487 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c06311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2023]
Abstract
Unspecific peroxygenases (UPOs) are emerging as promising biocatalysts for selective oxyfunctionalization of unactivated C-H bonds. However, their potential in large-scale synthesis is currently constrained by suboptimal chemical selectivity. Improving the selectivity of UPOs requires a deep understanding of the molecular basis of their catalysis. Recent molecular simulations have sought to unravel UPO's selectivity and inform their design principles. However, most of these studies focused on substrate-binding poses. Few researchers have investigated how the reactivity of CpdI, the principal oxidizing intermediate in the catalytic cycle, influences selectivity in a realistic protein environment. Moreover, the influence of protein electrostatics on the reaction kinetics of CpdI has also been largely overlooked. To bridge this gap, we used multiscale simulations to interpret the regio- and enantioselective hydroxylation of the n-heptane substrate catalyzed by Agrocybe aegerita UPO (AaeUPO). We comprehensively characterized the energetics and kinetics of the hydrogen atom-transfer (HAT) step, initiated by CpdI, and the subsequent oxygen rebound step forming the product. Notably, our approach involved both free energy and potential energy evaluations in a quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) setting, mitigating the dependence of results on the choice of initial conditions. These calculations illuminate the thermodynamics and kinetics of the HAT and oxygen rebound steps. Our findings highlight that both the conformational selection and the distinct chemical reactivity of different substrate hydrogen atoms together dictate the regio- and enantio-selectivity. Building on our previous study of CpdI's formation in AaeUPO, our results indicate that the HAT step is the rate-limiting step in the overall catalytic cycle. The subsequent oxygen rebound step is swift and retains the selectivity determined by the HAT step. We also pinpointed several polar and charged amino acid residues whose electrostatic potentials considerably influence the reaction barrier of the HAT step. Notably, the Glu196 residue is pivotal for both the CpdI's formation and participation in the HAT step. Our research offers in-depth insights into the catalytic cycle of AaeUPO, which will be instrumental in the rational design of UPOs with enhanced properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo J Costa
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, United States
| | - Abel Egbemhenghe
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, United States
| | - Ruibin Liang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, United States
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6
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Shimada A, Baba J, Nagao S, Shinzawa-Itoh K, Yamashita E, Muramoto K, Tsukihara T, Yoshikawa S. Crystallographic cyanide-probing for cytochrome c oxidase reveals structural bases suggesting that a putative proton transfer H-pathway pumps protons. J Biol Chem 2023; 299:105277. [PMID: 37742916 PMCID: PMC10598403 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Revised: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) reduces O2 in the O2-reduction site by sequential four-electron donations through the low-potential metal sites (CuA and Fea). Redox-coupled X-ray crystal structural changes have been identified at five distinct sites including Asp51, Arg438, Glu198, the hydroxyfarnesyl ethyl group of heme a, and Ser382, respectively. These sites interact with the putative proton-pumping H-pathway. However, the metal sites responsible for each structural change have not been identified, since these changes were detected as structural differences between the fully reduced and fully oxidized CcOs. Thus, the roles of these structural changes in the CcO function are yet to be revealed. X-ray crystal structures of cyanide-bound CcOs under various oxidation states showed that the O2-reduction site controlled only the Ser382-including site, while the low-potential metal sites induced the other changes. This finding indicates that these low-potential site-inducible structural changes are triggered by sequential electron-extraction from the low-potential sites by the O2-reduction site and that each structural change is insensitive to the oxidation and ligand-binding states of the O2-reduction site. Because the proton/electron coupling efficiency is constant (1:1), regardless of the reaction progress in the O2-reduction site, the structural changes induced by the low-potential sites are assignable to those critically involved in the proton pumping, suggesting that the H-pathway, facilitating these low-potential site-inducible structural changes, pumps protons. Furthermore, a cyanide-bound CcO structure suggests that a hypoxia-inducible activator, Higd1a, activates the O2-reduction site without influencing the electron transfer mechanism through the low-potential sites, kinetically confirming that the low-potential sites facilitate proton pump.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atsuhiro Shimada
- Picobiology Institute, Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Jumpei Baba
- Picobiology Institute, Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Shuhei Nagao
- Picobiology Institute, Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Kyoko Shinzawa-Itoh
- Picobiology Institute, Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, Hyogo, Japan; Department of Life Science, Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, Kamigori, Akoh, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Eiki Yamashita
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Kazumasa Muramoto
- Department of Life Science, Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, Kamigori, Akoh, Hyogo, Japan.
| | - Tomitake Tsukihara
- Picobiology Institute, Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, Hyogo, Japan; Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
| | - Shinya Yoshikawa
- Picobiology Institute, Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, Hyogo, Japan; Department of Life Science, Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, Kamigori, Akoh, Hyogo, Japan.
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7
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Costa GJ, Liang R. Understanding the Multifaceted Mechanism of Compound I Formation in Unspecific Peroxygenases through Multiscale Simulations. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:8809-8824. [PMID: 37796883 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c04589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
Unspecific peroxygenases (UPOs) can selectively oxyfunctionalize unactivated hydrocarbons by using peroxides under mild conditions. They circumvent the oxygen dilemma faced by cytochrome P450s and exhibit greater stability than the latter. As such, they hold great potential for industrial applications. A thorough understanding of their catalysis is needed to improve their catalytic performance. However, it remains elusive how UPOs effectively convert peroxide to Compound I (CpdI), the principal oxidizing intermediate in the catalytic cycle. Previous computational studies of this process primarily focused on heme peroxidases and P450s, which have significant differences in the active site from UPOs. Additionally, the roles of peroxide unbinding in the kinetics of CpdI formation, which is essential for interpreting existing experiments, have been understudied. Moreover, there has been a lack of free energy characterizations with explicit sampling of protein and hydration dynamics, which is critical for understanding the thermodynamics of the proton transport (PT) events involved in CpdI formation. To bridge these gaps, we employed multiscale simulations to comprehensively characterize the CpdI formation in wild-type UPO from Agrocybe aegerita (AaeUPO). Extensive free energy and potential energy calculations were performed in a quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics setting. Our results indicate that substrate-binding dehydrates the active site, impeding the PT from H2O2 to a nearby catalytic base (Glu196). Furthermore, the PT is coupled with considerable hydrogen bond network rearrangements near the active site, facilitating subsequent O-O bond cleavage. Finally, large unbinding free energy barriers kinetically stabilize H2O2 at the active site. These findings reveal a delicate balance among PT, hydration dynamics, hydrogen bond rearrangement, and cosubstrate unbinding, which collectively enable efficient CpdI formation. Our simulation results are consistent with kinetic measurements and offer new insights into the CpdI formation mechanism at atomic-level details, which can potentially aid the design of next-generation biocatalysts for sustainable chemical transformations of feedstocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo J Costa
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, United States
| | - Ruibin Liang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, United States
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8
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Kratochvil HT, Watkins LC, Mravic M, Thomaston JL, Nicoludis JM, Somberg NH, Liu L, Hong M, Voth GA, DeGrado WF. Transient water wires mediate selective proton transport in designed channel proteins. Nat Chem 2023; 15:1012-1021. [PMID: 37308712 PMCID: PMC10475958 DOI: 10.1038/s41557-023-01210-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Selective proton transport through proteins is essential for forming and using proton gradients in cells. Protons are conducted along hydrogen-bonded 'wires' of water molecules and polar side chains, which, somewhat surprisingly, are often interrupted by dry apolar stretches in the conduction pathways, inferred from static protein structures. Here we hypothesize that protons are conducted through such dry spots by forming transient water wires, often highly correlated with the presence of the excess protons in the water wire. To test this hypothesis, we performed molecular dynamics simulations to design transmembrane channels with stable water pockets interspersed by apolar segments capable of forming flickering water wires. The minimalist designed channels conduct protons at rates similar to viral proton channels, and they are at least 106-fold more selective for H+ over Na+. These studies inform the mechanisms of biological proton conduction and the principles for engineering proton-conductive materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huong T Kratochvil
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
| | - Laura C Watkins
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Kemper Insurance, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Marco Mravic
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jessica L Thomaston
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - John M Nicoludis
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Genentech, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Noah H Somberg
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Mei Hong
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Gregory A Voth
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
| | - William F DeGrado
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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9
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Gorriz RF, Volkenandt S, Imhof P. Protonation-State Dependence of Hydration and Interactions in the Two Proton-Conducting Channels of Cytochrome c Oxidase. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:10464. [PMID: 37445646 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241310464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/09/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Cytochrome c Oxidase (CcO), a membrane protein of the respiratory chain, pumps protons against an electrochemical gradient by using the energy of oxygen reduction to water. The ("chemical") protons required for this reaction and those pumped are taken up via two distinct channels, named D-channel and K-channel, in a step-wise and highly regulated fashion. In the reductive phase of the catalytic cycle, both channels transport protons so that the pumped proton passes the D-channel before the "chemical" proton has crossed the K-channel. By performing molecular dynamics simulations of CcO in the O→E redox state (after the arrival of the first reducing electron) with various combinations of protonation states of the D- and K-channels, we analysed the effect of protonation on the two channels. In agreement with previous work, the amount of water observed in the D-channel was significantly higher when the terminal residue E286 was not (yet) protonated than when the proton arrived at this end of the D-channel and E286 was neutral. Since a sufficient number of water molecules in the channel is necessary for proton transport, this can be understood as E286 facilitating its own protonation. K-channel hydration shows an even higher dependence on the location of the excess proton in the K-channel. Also in agreement with previous work, the K-channel exhibits a very low hydration level that likely hinders proton transfer when the excess proton is located in the lower part of the K-channel, that is, on the N-side of S365. Once the proton has passed S365 (towards the reaction site, the bi-nuclear centre (BNC)), the amount of water in the K-channel provides hydrogen-bond connectivity that renders proton transfer up to Y288 at the BNC feasible. No significant direct effect of the protonation state of one channel on the hydration level, hydrogen-bond connectivity, or interactions between protein residues in the other channel could be observed, rendering proton conductivity in the two channels independent of each other. Regulation of the order of proton uptake and proton passage in the two channels such that the "chemical" proton leaves its channel last must, therefore, be achieved by other means of communication, such as the location of the reducing electron.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rene F Gorriz
- Department of Physics, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- Computer Chemistry Center, Friedrich-Alexander Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nägelsbachstrasse 25, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Senta Volkenandt
- Computer Chemistry Center, Friedrich-Alexander Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nägelsbachstrasse 25, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Petra Imhof
- Department of Physics, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- Computer Chemistry Center, Friedrich-Alexander Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nägelsbachstrasse 25, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
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10
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Kubař T, Elstner M, Cui Q. Hybrid Quantum Mechanical/Molecular Mechanical Methods For Studying Energy Transduction in Biomolecular Machines. Annu Rev Biophys 2023; 52:525-551. [PMID: 36791746 PMCID: PMC10810093 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biophys-111622-091140] [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] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
Abstract
Hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) methods have become indispensable tools for the study of biomolecules. In this article, we briefly review the basic methodological details of QM/MM approaches and discuss their applications to various energy transduction problems in biomolecular machines, such as long-range proton transports, fast electron transfers, and mechanochemical coupling. We highlight the particular importance for these applications of balancing computational efficiency and accuracy. Using several recent examples, we illustrate the value and limitations of QM/MM methodologies for both ground and excited states, as well as strategies for calibrating them in specific applications. We conclude with brief comments on several areas that can benefit from further efforts to make QM/MM analyses more quantitative and applicable to increasingly complex biological problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Kubař
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany;
| | - M Elstner
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany;
- Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany;
| | - Q Cui
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;
- Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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11
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Shimada A, Tsukihara T, Yoshikawa S. Recent progress in experimental studies on the catalytic mechanism of cytochrome c oxidase. Front Chem 2023; 11:1108190. [PMID: 37214485 PMCID: PMC10194837 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1108190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) reduces molecular oxygen (O2) to water, coupled with a proton pump from the N-side to the P-side, by receiving four electrons sequentially from the P-side to the O2-reduction site-including Fea3 and CuB-via the two low potential metal sites; CuA and Fea. The catalytic cycle includes six intermediates as follows, R (Fea3 2+, CuB 1+, Tyr244OH), A (Fea3 2+-O2, CuB 1+, Tyr244OH), Pm (Fea3 4+ = O2-, CuB 2+-OH-, Tyr244O•), F (Fea3 4+ = O2-, CuB 2+-OH-, Tyr244OH), O (Fea3 3+-OH-, CuB 2+-OH-, Tyr244OH), and E (Fea3 3+-OH-, CuB 1+-H2O, Tyr244OH). CcO has three proton conducting pathways, D, K, and H. The D and K pathways connect the N-side surface with the O2-reduction site, while the H-pathway is located across the protein from the N-side to the P-side. The proton pump is driven by electrostatic interactions between the protons to be pumped and the net positive charges created during the O2 reduction. Two different proton pump proposals, each including either the D-pathway or H-pathway as the proton pumping site, were proposed approximately 30 years ago and continue to be under serious debate. In our view, the progress in understanding the reaction mechanism of CcO has been critically rate-limited by the resolution of its X-ray crystallographic structure. The improvement of the resolutions of the oxidized/reduced bovine CcO up to 1.5/1.6 Å resolution in 2016 provided a breakthrough in the understanding of the reaction mechanism of CcO. In this review, experimental studies on the reaction mechanism of CcO before the appearance of the 1.5/1.6 Å resolution X-ray structures are summarized as a background description. Following the summary, we will review the recent (since 2016) experimental findings which have significantly improved our understanding of the reaction mechanism of CcO including: 1) redox coupled structural changes of bovine CcO; 2) X-ray structures of all six intermediates; 3) spectroscopic findings on the intermediate species including the Tyr244 radical in the Pm form, a peroxide-bound form between the A and Pm forms, and Fr, a one-electron reduced F-form; 4) time resolved X-ray structural changes during the photolysis of CO-bound fully reduced CcO using XFEL; 5) a simulation analysis for the Pm→Pr→F transition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atsuhiro Shimada
- Department of Applied Life Science, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
| | - Tomitake Tsukihara
- Department of Life Science, Graduate School of Science, University of Hyogo, Hyogo, Japan
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Shinya Yoshikawa
- Department of Life Science, Graduate School of Science, University of Hyogo, Hyogo, Japan
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12
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Yue Z, Li C, Voth GA. The role of conformational change and key glutamic acid residues in the ClC-ec1 antiporter. Biophys J 2023; 122:1068-1085. [PMID: 36698313 PMCID: PMC10111279 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2023.01.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Revised: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The triple glutamine (Q) mutant (QQQ) structure of a Cl-/H+ antiporter from Escherichia coli (ClC-ec1) displaying a novel backbone arrangement has been used to challenge the long-held notion that Cl-/H+ antiporters do not operate through large conformational motions. The QQQ mutant substitutes the glutamine residue for an external glutamate E148, an internal glutamate E203, and a third glutamate E113 that hydrogen-bonds with E203. However, it is unknown if QQQ represents a physiologically relevant state, as well as how the protonation of the wild-type glutamates relates to the global dynamics. We herein apply continuous constant-pH molecular dynamics to investigate the H+-coupled dynamics of ClC-ec1. Although any large-scale conformational rearrangement upon acidification would be due to the accumulation of excess charge within the protein, protonation of the glutamates significantly impacts mainly the local structure and dynamics. Despite the fact that the extracellular pore enlarges at acidic pHs, an occluded ClC-ec1 within the active pH range of 3.5-7.5 requires a protonated E148 to facilitate extracellular Cl- release. E203 is also involved in the intracellular H+ transfer as an H+ acceptor. The water wire connection of E148 with the intracellular solution is regulated by the charge states of the E113/E203 dyad with coupled proton titration. However, the dynamics extracted from our simulations are not QQQ-like, indicating that the QQQ mutant does not represent the behavior of the wild-type ClC-ec1. These findings reinforce the necessity of having a protonatable residue at the E203 position in ClC-ec1 and suggest that a higher level of complexity exists for the intracellular H+ transfer in Cl-/H+ antiporters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhi Yue
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Chenghan Li
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Gregory A Voth
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
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13
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Liu Y, Li C, Voth GA. Generalized Transition State Theory Treatment of Water-Assisted Proton Transport Processes in Proteins. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:10452-10459. [PMID: 36459423 PMCID: PMC9762399 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c06703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Transition state theory (TST) is widely employed for estimating the transition rate of a reaction when combined with free energy sampling techniques. A derivation of the transition theory rate expression for a general n-dimensional case is presented in this work which specifically focuses on water-assisted proton transfer/transport reactions, especially for protein systems. Our work evaluates the TST prefactor calculated at the transition state dividing surface compared to one sampled, as an approximation, in the reactant state in four case studies of water-assisted proton transport inside membrane proteins and highlights the significant impact of the prefactor position dependence in proton transport processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center
for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for
Biophysical Dynamics, The University of
Chicago, Chicago, Illinois60637, United States
| | - Chenghan Li
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center
for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for
Biophysical Dynamics, The University of
Chicago, Chicago, Illinois60637, United States
| | - Gregory A. Voth
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center
for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for
Biophysical Dynamics, The University of
Chicago, Chicago, Illinois60637, United States
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14
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Electric fields control water-gated proton transfer in cytochrome c oxidase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2207761119. [PMID: 36095184 PMCID: PMC9499568 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2207761119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Aerobic life is powered by membrane-bound enzymes that catalyze the transfer of electrons to oxygen and protons across a biological membrane. Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) functions as a terminal electron acceptor in mitochondrial and bacterial respiratory chains, driving cellular respiration and transducing the free energy from O2 reduction into proton pumping. Here we show that CcO creates orientated electric fields around a nonpolar cavity next to the active site, establishing a molecular switch that directs the protons along distinct pathways. By combining large-scale quantum chemical density functional theory (DFT) calculations with hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) simulations and atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) explorations, we find that reduction of the electron donor, heme a, leads to dissociation of an arginine (Arg438)-heme a3 D-propionate ion-pair. This ion-pair dissociation creates a strong electric field of up to 1 V Å-1 along a water-mediated proton array leading to a transient proton loading site (PLS) near the active site. Protonation of the PLS triggers the reduction of the active site, which in turn aligns the electric field vectors along a second, "chemical," proton pathway. We find a linear energy relationship of the proton transfer barrier with the electric field strength that explains the effectivity of the gating process. Our mechanism shows distinct similarities to principles also found in other energy-converting enzymes, suggesting that orientated electric fields generally control enzyme catalysis.
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15
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Lazaridis T, Sepehri A. Amino acid deprotonation rates from classical force fields. J Chem Phys 2022; 157:085101. [DOI: 10.1063/5.0101960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Acid ionization constants (pKa's) of titratable amino acid side chains have received a large amount of experimental and theoretical attention. In many situations, however, the rates of protonation and deprotonation, kon & koff, may also be important, for example in understanding the mechanism of action of proton channels or membrane proteins that couple proton transport to other processes. Protonation and deprotonation involve making and breaking of covalent bonds, which cannot be studied by classical force fields. However, environment effects on the rates should be captured by such methods. Here we present an approach for estimating deprotonation rates based on Warshel's extension of Marcus's theory of electron transfer, with input from molecular simulations. The missing bond dissociation energy is represented by a constant term determined by fitting the pKa value in solution. The statistics of the energy gap between protonated and deprotonated states is used to compute free energy curves of the two states and thus free energy barriers, from which the rate can be deduced. The method is applied to Glu, Asp, and His in bulk solution and select membrane proteins: the M2 proton channel, bacteriorhodopsin, and cytochrome c oxidase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Themis Lazaridis
- Department of Chemistry, City College of New York, United States of America
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16
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Liang R, Bakhtiiari A. Multiscale simulation unravels the light-regulated reversible inhibition of dihydrofolate reductase by phototrexate. J Chem Phys 2022; 156:245102. [DOI: 10.1063/5.0096349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Molecular photoswitches are widely used in photopharmacology, where the biomolecular functions are photo-controlled reversibly with high spatiotemporal precision. Despite the success of this field, it remains elusive how the protein environment modulates the photochemical properties of photoswitches. Understanding this fundamental question is critical for designing more effective light-regulated drugs with mitigated side effects. In our recent work, we employed first-principles non-adiabatic dynamics simulations to probe the effects of protein on the trans to cis photoisomerization of phototrexate (PTX), a photochromic analog of the anticancer therapeutic methotrexate that inhibits the target enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). Building upon this study, in this work, we employ multiscale simulations to unravel the full photocycle underlying the light-regulated reversible inhibition of DHFR by PTX, which remains elusive until now. First-principles non-adiabatic dynamics simulations reveal that the cis to trans photoisomerization quantum yield is hindered in the protein due to backward isomerization on the ground-state following non-adiabatic transition, which arises from the favorable binding of the cis isomer with the protein. However, free energy simulations indicate that cis to trans photoisomerization significantly decreases the binding affinity of the PTX. Thus, the cis to trans photoisomerization most likely precedes the ligand unbinding from the protein. We propose the most probable photocycle of the PTX-DHFR system. Our comprehensive simulations highlight the trade-offs among the binding affinity, photoisomerization quantum yield, and the thermal stability of the ligand's different isomeric forms. As such, our work reveals new design principles of light-regulated drugs in photopharmacology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruibin Liang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA
| | - Amirhossein Bakhtiiari
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA
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17
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Deng J, Cui Q. Electronic Polarization Is Essential for the Stabilization and Dynamics of Buried Ion Pairs in Staphylococcal Nuclease Mutants. J Am Chem Soc 2022; 144:4594-4610. [PMID: 35239338 PMCID: PMC9616648 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c00312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Buried charged residues play important roles in the modulation of protein stabilities and conformational dynamics and make crucial contributions to protein functions. Considering the generally nonpolar nature of protein interior, a key question concerns the contribution of electronic polarization to the stabilization and properties of buried charges. We answer this question by conducting free energy simulations using the latest polarizable CHARMM force field based on Drude oscillators for a series of Staphylococcal nuclease mutants that involve a buried Glu-Lys pair in different titration states and orientations. While a nonpolarizable model suggests that the ionized form of the buried Glu-Lys pair is more than 40 kcal/mol less stable than the charge-neutral form, the two titration states are comparable in stability when electronic polarization is included explicitly, a result better reconcilable with available experimental data. Analysis of free energy components suggests that additional stabilization of the ionized Glu-Lys pair has contributions from both the enhanced salt-bridge strength and stronger interaction between the ion-pair and surrounding protein residues and penetrated water. Despite the stronger direct interaction between Glu and Lys, the ion-pair exhibits considerably larger and faster structural fluctuations when polarization is included, due to compensation of interactions in the cavity. Collectively, observations from this work provide compelling evidence that electronic polarization is essential to the stability, hydration, dynamics, and therefore function of buried charges in proteins. Therefore, our study advocates for the explicit consideration of electronic polarization for mechanistic and engineering studies that implicate buried charged residues, such as enzymes and ion transporters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiahua Deng
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Qiang Cui
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Physics, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 44 Cummington Mall, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
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18
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Watkins LC, DeGrado WF, Voth GA. Multiscale Simulation of an Influenza A M2 Channel Mutant Reveals Key Features of Its Markedly Different Proton Transport Behavior. J Am Chem Soc 2022; 144:769-776. [PMID: 34985907 PMCID: PMC8834648 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c09281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
The influenza A M2 channel, a prototype for viroporins, is an acid-activated viroporin that conducts protons across the viral membrane, a critical step in the viral life cycle. Four central His37 residues control channel activation by binding subsequent protons from the viral exterior, which opens the Trp41 gate and allows proton flux to the interior. Asp44 is essential for maintaining the Trp41 gate in a closed state at high pH, resulting in asymmetric conduction. The prevalent D44N mutant disrupts this gate and opens the C-terminal end of the channel, resulting in increased conduction and a loss of this asymmetric conduction. Here, we use extensive Multiscale Reactive Molecular Dynamics (MS-RMD) and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) molecular dynamics simulations with an explicit, reactive excess proton to calculate the free energy of proton transport in this M2 mutant and to study the dynamic molecular-level behavior of D44N M2. We find that this mutation significantly lowers the barrier of His37 deprotonation in the activated state and shifts the barrier for entry to the Val27 tetrad. These free energy changes are reflected in structural shifts. Additionally, we show that the increased hydration around the His37 tetrad diminishes the effect of the His37 charge on the channel's water structure, facilitating proton transport and enabling activation from the viral interior. Altogether, this work provides key insight into the fundamental characteristics of PT in WT M2 and how the D44N mutation alters this PT mechanism, and it expands understanding of the role of emergent mutations in viroporins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura C. Watkins
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - William F. DeGrado
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, 94158, United States
| | - Gregory A. Voth
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States,Corresponding Author
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19
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Kaila VRI. Resolving Chemical Dynamics in Biological Energy Conversion: Long-Range Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer in Respiratory Complex I. Acc Chem Res 2021; 54:4462-4473. [PMID: 34894649 PMCID: PMC8697550 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.1c00524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
![]()
Biological energy conversion is catalyzed by membrane-bound proteins
that transduce chemical or light energy into energy forms that power
endergonic processes in the cell. At a molecular level, these catalytic
processes involve elementary electron-, proton-, charge-, and energy-transfer
reactions that take place in the intricate molecular machineries of
cell respiration and photosynthesis. Recent developments in structural
biology, particularly cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM), have resolved
the molecular architecture of several energy transducing proteins,
but detailed mechanistic principles of their charge transfer reactions
still remain poorly understood and a major challenge for modern biochemical
research. To this end, multiscale molecular simulations provide a
powerful approach to probe mechanistic principles on a broad range
of time scales (femtoseconds to milliseconds) and spatial resolutions
(101–106 atoms), although technical challenges
also require balancing between the computational accuracy, cost, and
approximations introduced within the model. Here we discuss how the
combination of atomistic (aMD) and hybrid quantum/classical molecular
dynamics (QM/MM MD) simulations with free energy (FE) sampling methods
can be used to probe mechanistic principles of enzymes responsible
for biological energy conversion. We present mechanistic explorations
of long-range proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) dynamics in
the highly intricate respiratory chain enzyme Complex I, which functions
as a redox-driven proton pump in bacterial and mitochondrial respiratory
chains by catalyzing a 300 Å fully reversible PCET process. This
process is initiated by a hydride (H–) transfer
between NADH and FMN, followed by long-range (>100 Å) electron
transfer along a wire of 8 FeS centers leading to a quinone biding
site. The reduction of the quinone to quinol initiates dissociation
of the latter to a second membrane-bound binding site, and triggers
proton pumping across the membrane domain of complex I, in subunits
up to 200 Å away from the active site. Our simulations across
different size and time scales suggest that transient charge transfer
reactions lead to changes in the internal hydration state of key regions,
local electric fields, and the conformation of conserved ion pairs,
which in turn modulate the dynamics of functional steps along the
reaction cycle. Similar functional principles, which operate on much
shorter length scales, are also found in some unrelated proteins,
suggesting that enzymes may employ conserved principles in the catalysis
of biological energy transduction processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ville R. I. Kaila
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
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20
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A quantitative paradigm for water-assisted proton transport through proteins and other confined spaces. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2113141118. [PMID: 34857630 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2113141118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Water-assisted proton transport through confined spaces influences many phenomena in biomolecular and nanomaterial systems. In such cases, the water molecules that fluctuate in the confined pathways provide the environment and the medium for the hydrated excess proton migration via Grotthuss shuttling. However, a definitive collective variable (CV) that accurately couples the hydration and the connectivity of the proton wire with the proton translocation has remained elusive. To address this important challenge-and thus to define a quantitative paradigm for facile proton transport in confined spaces-a CV is derived in this work from graph theory, which is verified to accurately describe water wire formation and breakage coupled to the proton translocation in carbon nanotubes and the Cl-/H+ antiporter protein, ClC-ec1. Significant alterations in the conformations and thermodynamics of water wires are uncovered after introducing an excess proton into them. Large barriers in the proton translocation free-energy profiles are found when water wires are defined to be disconnected according to the new CV, even though the pertinent confined space is still reasonably well hydrated and-by the simple measure of the mere existence of a water structure-the proton transport would have been predicted to be facile via that oversimplified measure. In this paradigm, however, the simple presence of water is not sufficient for inferring proton translocation, since an excess proton itself is able to drive hydration, and additionally, the water molecules themselves must be adequately connected to facilitate any successful proton transport.
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21
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Maag D, Mast T, Elstner M, Cui Q, Kubař T. O to bR transition in bacteriorhodopsin occurs through a proton hole mechanism. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2024803118. [PMID: 34561302 PMCID: PMC8488608 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2024803118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Extensive classical and quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) molecular dynamics simulations are used to establish the structural features of the O state in bacteriorhodopsin (bR) and its conversion back to the bR ground state. The computed free energy surface is consistent with available experimental data for the kinetics and thermodynamics of the O to bR transition. The simulation results highlight the importance of the proton release group (PRG, consisting of Glu194/204) and the conserved arginine 82 in modulating the hydration level of the protein cavity. In particular, in the O state, deprotonation of the PRG and downward rotation of Arg82 lead to elevated hydration level and a continuous water network that connects the PRG to the protonated Asp85. Proton exchange through this water network is shown by ∼0.1-μs semiempirical QM/MM free energy simulations to occur through the generation and propagation of a proton hole, which is relayed by Asp212 and stabilized by Arg82. This mechanism provides an explanation for the observation that the D85S mutant of bacteriorhodopsin pumps chloride ions. The electrostatics-hydration coupling mechanism and the involvement of all titration states of water are likely applicable to many biomolecules involved in bioenergetic transduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denis Maag
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Thilo Mast
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Marcus Elstner
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
- Institute for Biological Interfaces, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Qiang Cui
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215
- Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215
| | - Tomáš Kubař
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany;
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22
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Li C, Voth GA. Accurate and Transferable Reactive Molecular Dynamics Models from Constrained Density Functional Theory. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:10471-10480. [PMID: 34520198 PMCID: PMC8480781 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c05992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Chemical reactions
constitute the central feature of many liquid,
material, and biomolecular processes. Conventional molecular dynamics
(MD) is inadequate for simulating chemical reactions given the fixed
bonding topology of most force fields, while modeling chemical reactions
using ab initio molecular dynamics is limited to
shorter time and length scales given its high computational cost.
As such, the multiscale reactive molecular dynamics method provides
one promising alternative for simulating complex chemical systems
at atomistic detail on a reactive potential energy surface. However,
the parametrization of such models is a key barrier to their applicability
and success. In this work, we present reactive MD models derived from
constrained density functional theory that are both accurate and transferable.
We illustrate the features of these models for proton dissociation
reactions of amino acids in both aqueous and protein environments.
Specifically, we present models for ionizable glutamate and lysine
that predict accurate absolute pKa values
in water as well as their significantly shifted pKa in staphylococcal nuclease (SNase) without any modification
of the models. As one outcome of the new methodology, the simulations
show that the deprotonation of ionizable residues in SNase can be
closely coupled with side chain rotations, which is a concept likely
generalizable to many other proteins. Furthermore, the present approach
is not limited to only pKa prediction
but can enable the fully atomistic simulation of many other reactive
systems along with a determination of the key aspects of the reaction
mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenghan Li
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Gregory A Voth
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
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23
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Jose A, Schaefer AW, Roveda AC, Transue WJ, Choi SK, Ding Z, Gennis RB, Solomon EI. The three-spin intermediate at the O-O cleavage and proton-pumping junction in heme-Cu oxidases. Science 2021; 373:1225-1229. [PMID: 34516790 DOI: 10.1126/science.abh3209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
[Figure: see text].
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Affiliation(s)
- Anex Jose
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Andrew W Schaefer
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Antonio C Roveda
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Wesley J Transue
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Sylvia K Choi
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Ziqiao Ding
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Robert B Gennis
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Edward I Solomon
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.,Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
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24
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Abstract
The electron transport chain of mitochondria is initiated by the respiratory complex I that converts chemical energy into a proton motive force to power synthesis of adenosine triphosphate. On a chemical level, complex I catalyzes elementary electron and proton transfer processes that couple across large molecular distances of >300 Å. However, under low oxygen concentrations, the respiratory chain operates in reverse mode and produces harmful reactive oxygen species. To avoid cell damage, the mitochondrial complex I transitions into a deactive state that inhibits turnover by molecular principles that remain elusive. By combining large-scale molecular simulations with cryo-electron microscopy data, we show here that complex I deactivation blocks the communication between proton pumping and redox modules by conformational and hydration changes. Cellular respiration is powered by membrane-bound redox enzymes that convert chemical energy into an electrochemical proton gradient and drive the energy metabolism. By combining large-scale classical and quantum mechanical simulations with cryo-electron microscopy data, we resolve here molecular details of conformational changes linked to proton pumping in the mammalian complex I. Our data suggest that complex I deactivation blocks water-mediated proton transfer between a membrane-bound quinone site and proton-pumping modules, decoupling the energy-transduction machinery. We identify a putative gating region at the interface between membrane domain subunits ND1 and ND3/ND4L/ND6 that modulates the proton transfer by conformational changes in transmembrane helices and bulky residues. The region is perturbed by mutations linked to human mitochondrial disorders and is suggested to also undergo conformational changes during catalysis of simpler complex I variants that lack the “active”-to-“deactive” transition. Our findings suggest that conformational changes in transmembrane helices modulate the proton transfer dynamics by wetting/dewetting transitions and provide important functional insight into the mammalian respiratory complex I.
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25
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Abstract
QM/MM simulations have become an indispensable tool in many chemical and biochemical investigations. Considering the tremendous degree of success, including recognition by a 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, are there still "burning challenges" in QM/MM methods, especially for biomolecular systems? In this short Perspective, we discuss several issues that we believe greatly impact the robustness and quantitative applicability of QM/MM simulations to many, if not all, biomolecules. We highlight these issues with observations and relevant advances from recent studies in our group and others in the field. Despite such limited scope, we hope the discussions are of general interest and will stimulate additional developments that help push the field forward in meaningful directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Cui
- Departments of Chemistry, Physics, and Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Tanmoy Pal
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Luke Xie
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
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26
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Watkins LC, DeGrado WF, Voth GA. Influenza A M2 Inhibitor Binding Understood through Mechanisms of Excess Proton Stabilization and Channel Dynamics. J Am Chem Soc 2020; 142:17425-17433. [PMID: 32933245 PMCID: PMC7564090 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c06419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Prevalent resistance to inhibitors
that target the influenza A
M2 proton channel has necessitated a continued drug design effort,
supported by a sustained study of the mechanism of channel function
and inhibition. Recent high-resolution X-ray crystal structures present
the first opportunity to see how the adamantyl amine class of inhibitors
bind to M2 and disrupt and interact with the channel’s water
network, providing insight into the critical properties that enable
their effective inhibition in wild-type M2. In this work, we examine
the hypothesis that these drugs act primarily as mechanism-based inhibitors
by comparing hydrated excess proton stabilization during proton transport
in M2 with the interactions revealed in the crystal structures, using
the Multiscale Reactive Molecular Dynamics (MS-RMD) methodology. MS-RMD,
unlike classical molecular dynamics, models the hydrated proton (hydronium-like
cation) as a dynamic excess charge defect and allows bonds to break
and form, capturing the intricate interactions between the hydrated
excess proton, protein atoms, and water. Through this, we show that
the ammonium group of the inhibitors is effectively positioned to
take advantage of the channel’s natural ability to stabilize
an excess protonic charge and act as a hydronium mimic. Additionally,
we show that the channel is especially stable in the drug binding
region, highlighting the importance of this property for binding the
adamantane group. Finally, we characterize an additional hinge point
near Val27, which dynamically responds to charge and inhibitor binding.
Altogether, this work further illuminates a dynamic understanding
of the mechanism of drug inhibition in M2, grounded in the fundamental
properties that enable the channel to transport and stabilize excess
protons, with critical implications for future drug design efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura C Watkins
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - William F DeGrado
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
| | - Gregory A Voth
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
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27
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Li C, Yue Z, Espinoza-Fonseca LM, Voth GA. Multiscale Simulation Reveals Passive Proton Transport Through SERCA on the Microsecond Timescale. Biophys J 2020; 119:1033-1040. [PMID: 32814059 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2020.07.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Revised: 07/20/2020] [Accepted: 07/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) transports two Ca2+ ions from the cytoplasm to the reticulum lumen at the expense of ATP hydrolysis. In addition to transporting Ca2+, SERCA facilitates bidirectional proton transport across the sarcoplasmic reticulum to maintain the charge balance of the transport sites and to balance the charge deficit generated by the exchange of Ca2+. Previous studies have shown the existence of a transient water-filled pore in SERCA that connects the Ca2+ binding sites with the lumen, but the capacity of this pathway to sustain passive proton transport has remained unknown. In this study, we used the multiscale reactive molecular dynamics method and free energy sampling to quantify the free energy profile and timescale of the proton transport across this pathway while also explicitly accounting for the dynamically coupled hydration changes of the pore. We find that proton transport from the central binding site to the lumen has a microsecond timescale, revealing a novel passive cytoplasm-to-lumen proton flow beside the well-known inverse proton countertransport occurring in active Ca2+ transport. We propose that this proton transport mechanism is operational and serves as a functional conduit for passive proton transport across the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenghan Li
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Zhi Yue
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - L Michel Espinoza-Fonseca
- Center for Arrhythmia Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Gregory A Voth
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
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28
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Probing the Proton-Loading Site of Cytochrome C Oxidase Using Time-Resolved Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Molecules 2020; 25:molecules25153393. [PMID: 32727022 PMCID: PMC7435947 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25153393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2020] [Revised: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Crystal structure analyses at atomic resolution and FTIR spectroscopic studies of cytochrome c oxidase have yet not revealed protonation or deprotonation of key sites of proton transfer in a time-resolved mode. Here, a sensitive technique to detect protolytic transitions is employed. In this work, probing a proton-loading site of cytochrome c oxidase from Paracoccus denitrificans with time-resolved Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy is presented for the first time. For this purpose, variants with single-site mutations of N131V, D124N, and E278Q, the key residues in the D-channel, were studied. The reaction of mutated CcO enzymes with oxygen was monitored and analyzed. Seven infrared bands in the “fast” kinetic spectra were found based on the following three requirements: (1) they are present in the “fast” phases of N131V and D124N mutants, (2) they have reciprocal counterparts in the “slow” kinetic spectra in these mutants, and (3) they are absent in “fast” kinetic spectra of the E278Q mutant. Moreover, the double-difference spectra between the first two mutants and E278Q revealed more IR bands that may belong to the proton-loading site protolytic transitions. From these results, it is assumed that several polar residues and/or water molecule cluster(s) share a proton as a proton-loading site. This site can be propionate itself (holding only a fraction of H+), His403, and/or water cluster(s).
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29
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Li C, Swanson JMJ. Understanding and Tracking the Excess Proton in Ab Initio Simulations; Insights from IR Spectra. J Phys Chem B 2020; 124:5696-5708. [PMID: 32515957 PMCID: PMC7448536 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c03615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Proton transport in aqueous media is ubiquitously important in chemical and biological processes. Although ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations have made great progress in characterizing proton transport, there has been a long-standing challenge in defining and tracking the excess proton, or more properly, the center of excess charge (CEC) created when a hydrogen nucleus distorts the electron distributions of water molecules in a delocalized and highly dynamic nature. Yet, defining (and biasing) such a CEC is essential when combining AIMD with enhanced sampling methods to calculate the relevant macroscopic properties via free-energy landscapes, which is the standard practice for most processes of interest. Several CEC formulas have been proposed and used, but none have yet been systematically tested or rigorously derived. In this paper, we show that the CEC can be used as a computational tool to disentangle IR features of the solvated excess proton from its surrounding solvent, and in turn, how correlating the features in the excess charge spectrum with the behavior of CEC in simulations enables a systematic evaluation of various CEC definitions. We present a new definition of CEC and show how it overcomes the limitations of those currently available both from a spectroscopic point of view and from a practical perspective of performance in enhanced sampling simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenghan Li
- Department of Chemistry, Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Jessica M. J. Swanson
- Department of Chemistry, Biological Chemistry Program, and Center for Cell and Genome Science, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
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30
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Cai X, Son CY, Mao J, Kaur D, Zhang Y, Khaniya U, Cui Q, Gunner MR. Identifying the proton loading site cluster in the ba 3 cytochrome c oxidase that loads and traps protons. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS 2020; 1861:148239. [PMID: 32531221 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2020.148239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2020] [Revised: 05/05/2020] [Accepted: 06/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Cytochrome c Oxidase (CcO) is the terminal electron acceptor in aerobic respiratory chain, reducing O2 to water. The released free energy is stored by pumping protons through the protein, maintaining the transmembrane electrochemical gradient. Protons are held transiently in a proton loading site (PLS) that binds and releases protons driven by the electron transfer reaction cycle. Multi-Conformation Continuum Electrostatics (MCCE) was applied to crystal structures and Molecular Dynamics snapshots of the B-type Thermus thermophilus CcO. Six residues are identified as the PLS, binding and releasing protons as the charges on heme b and the binuclear center are changed: the heme a3 propionic acids, Asp287, Asp372, His376 and Glu126B. The unloaded state has one proton and the loaded state two protons on these six residues. Different input structures, modifying the PLS conformation, show different proton distributions and result in different proton pumping behaviors. One loaded and one unloaded protonation states have the loaded/unloaded states close in energy so the PLS binds and releases a proton through the reaction cycle. The alternative proton distributions have state energies too far apart to be shifted by the electron transfers so are locked in loaded or unloaded states. Here the protein can use active states to load and unload protons, but has nearby trapped states, which stabilize PLS protonation state, providing new ideas about the CcO proton pumping mechanism. The distance between the PLS residues Asp287 and His376 correlates with the energy difference between loaded and unloaded states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuhong Cai
- Department of Physics, City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, USA; Department of Physics, Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Chang Yun Son
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA; Department of Chemistry and Division of Advanced Materials Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang 37673, South Korea
| | - Junjun Mao
- Department of Physics, City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, USA
| | - Divya Kaur
- Department of Physics, City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, USA; Department of Chemistry, Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Yingying Zhang
- Department of Physics, City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, USA; Department of Physics, Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Umesh Khaniya
- Department of Physics, City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, USA; Department of Physics, Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Qiang Cui
- Department of Chemistry & Department of Biomedical Engineering & Department of Physics, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - M R Gunner
- Department of Physics, City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, USA; Department of Physics, Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Chemistry, Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.
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31
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Reidelbach M, Imhof P. Proton transfer in the D-channel of cytochrome c oxidase modeled by a transition network approach. Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj 2020; 1864:129614. [PMID: 32305338 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2020.129614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2020] [Accepted: 04/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Determination of proton uptake pathways in Cytochrome c Oxidase is difficult due to the complexity of the system. The transition networks approach allows sampling of proton transfer pathways without predefined reaction coordinate. METHODS Computation of the proton transfer pathways in a model of the D-channel of cytochrome c oxidase has been performed by a transition network approach that combines discrete, optimisation based and molecular dynamics based sampling. RESULTS The optimal pathway involves an opening of the so-called asparagine gate, hydration of the asparagine region, the formation of a hydrogen-bonded chain, and finally concerted proton hole transport along this chain. The optimal pathway finds the protonation of residue H26 close to the channel entrance favourable for lowering the transition energies of subsequent steps, in particular, opening of the Asn gate and formation of a hydrogen-bonded chain. Residue Y33 plays an important role in shuttling the transferred proton hole. CONCLUSIONS The optimal pathway found by the transition network approach shows the same important characteristics as pathways determined earlier by other methods. The computed barrier and reaction energies are also in good agreement with previous studies. The transition network approach provides an alternative to explore pathways in complex systems. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE The correct function of the enzyme as oxidase and proton pump depends on the interplay of several redox and proton transport steps. Understanding the proton transport mechanism is therefore key to understanding the protein's function. The complex nature of long- distances proton transfer through a protein requires a non-trivial simulation strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Reidelbach
- Department of Physics, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14159 Berlin, Germany
| | - Petra Imhof
- Department of Physics, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14159 Berlin, Germany.
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32
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Wang Z, Swanson JMJ, Voth GA. Local conformational dynamics regulating transport properties of a Cl - /H + antiporter. J Comput Chem 2020; 41:513-519. [PMID: 31633205 PMCID: PMC7184886 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2019] [Revised: 09/17/2019] [Accepted: 10/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
ClC-ec1 is a Cl- /H+ antiporter that exchanges Cl- and H+ ions across the membrane. Experiments have demonstrated that several mutations, including I109F, decrease the Cl- and H+ transport rates by an order of magnitude. Using reactive molecular dynamics simulations of explicit proton transport across the central region in the I109F mutant, a two-dimensional free energy profile has been constructed that is consistent with the experimental transport rates. The importance of a phenylalanine gate formed by F109 and F357 and its influence on hydration connectivity through the central proton transport pathway is revealed. This work demonstrates how seemingly subtle changes in local conformational dynamics can dictate hydration changes and thus transport properties. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhi Wang
- Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | | | - Gregory A. Voth
- Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
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33
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Hoang NH, Strogolova V, Mosley JJ, Stuart RA, Hosler J. Hypoxia-inducible gene domain 1 proteins in yeast mitochondria protect against proton leak through complex IV. J Biol Chem 2019; 294:17669-17677. [PMID: 31591265 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra119.010317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2019] [Revised: 09/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Hypoxia-inducible gene domain 1 (HIGD1) proteins are small integral membrane proteins, conserved from bacteria to humans, that associate with oxidative phosphorylation supercomplexes. Using yeast as a model organism, we have shown previously that its two HIGD1 proteins, Rcf1 and Rcf2, are required for the generation and maintenance of a normal membrane potential (ΔΨ) across the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM). We postulated that the lower ΔΨ observed in the absence of the HIGD1 proteins may be due to decreased proton pumping by complex IV (CIV) or enhanced leak of protons across the IMM. Here we measured the ΔΨ generated by complex III (CIII) to discriminate between these possibilities. First, we found that the decreased ΔΨ observed in the absence of the HIGD1 proteins cannot be due to decreased proton pumping by CIV because CIII, operating alone, also exhibited a decreased ΔΨ when HIGD1 proteins were absent. Because CIII can neither lower its pumping stoichiometry nor transfer protons completely across the IMM, this result indicates that HIGD1 protein ablation enhances proton leak across the IMM. Second, we demonstrate that this proton leak occurs through CIV because ΔΨ generation by CIII is restored when CIV is removed from the cell. Third, the proton leak appeared to take place through an inactive population of CIV that accumulates when HIGD1 proteins are absent. We conclude that HIGD1 proteins in yeast prevent CIV inactivation, likely by preventing the loss of lipids bound within the Cox3 protein of CIV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ngoc H Hoang
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 39216
| | - Vera Strogolova
- Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233
| | - Jaramys J Mosley
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 39216
| | - Rosemary A Stuart
- Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233
| | - Jonathan Hosler
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 39216
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34
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Watkins LC, Liang R, Swanson JMJ, DeGrado WF, Voth GA. Proton-Induced Conformational and Hydration Dynamics in the Influenza A M2 Channel. J Am Chem Soc 2019; 141:11667-11676. [PMID: 31264413 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b05136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The influenza A M2 protein is an acid-activated proton channel responsible for acidification of the inside of the virus, a critical step in the viral life cycle. This channel has four central histidine residues that form an acid-activated gate, binding protons from the outside until an activated state allows proton transport to the inside. While previous work has focused on proton transport through the channel, the structural and dynamic changes that accompany proton flux and enable activation have yet to be resolved. In this study, extensive Multiscale Reactive Molecular Dynamics simulations with explicit Grotthuss-shuttling hydrated excess protons are used to explore detailed molecular-level interactions that accompany proton transport in the +0, + 1, and +2 histidine charge states. The results demonstrate how the hydrated excess proton strongly influences both the protein and water hydrogen-bonding network throughout the channel, providing further insight into the channel's acid-activation mechanism and rectification behavior. We find that the excess proton dynamically, as a function of location, shifts the protein structure away from its equilibrium distributions uniquely for different pH conditions consistent with acid-activation. The proton distribution in the xy-plane is also shown to be asymmetric about the channel's main axis, which has potentially important implications for the mechanism of proton conduction and future drug design efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura C Watkins
- Department of Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute , The University of Chicago , Chicago , Illinois 60637 , United States
| | - Ruibin Liang
- Department of Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute , The University of Chicago , Chicago , Illinois 60637 , United States
| | - Jessica M J Swanson
- Department of Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute , The University of Chicago , Chicago , Illinois 60637 , United States
| | - William F DeGrado
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry , University of California , San Francisco , California 94158 , United States
| | - Gregory A Voth
- Department of Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute , The University of Chicago , Chicago , Illinois 60637 , United States
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35
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Enkavi G, Javanainen M, Kulig W, Róg T, Vattulainen I. Multiscale Simulations of Biological Membranes: The Challenge To Understand Biological Phenomena in a Living Substance. Chem Rev 2019; 119:5607-5774. [PMID: 30859819 PMCID: PMC6727218 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 175] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Biological membranes are tricky to investigate. They are complex in terms of molecular composition and structure, functional over a wide range of time scales, and characterized by nonequilibrium conditions. Because of all of these features, simulations are a great technique to study biomembrane behavior. A significant part of the functional processes in biological membranes takes place at the molecular level; thus computer simulations are the method of choice to explore how their properties emerge from specific molecular features and how the interplay among the numerous molecules gives rise to function over spatial and time scales larger than the molecular ones. In this review, we focus on this broad theme. We discuss the current state-of-the-art of biomembrane simulations that, until now, have largely focused on a rather narrow picture of the complexity of the membranes. Given this, we also discuss the challenges that we should unravel in the foreseeable future. Numerous features such as the actin-cytoskeleton network, the glycocalyx network, and nonequilibrium transport under ATP-driven conditions have so far received very little attention; however, the potential of simulations to solve them would be exceptionally high. A major milestone for this research would be that one day we could say that computer simulations genuinely research biological membranes, not just lipid bilayers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giray Enkavi
- Department
of Physics, University of
Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Matti Javanainen
- Department
of Physics, University of
Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
- Institute
of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy
of Sciences, Flemingovo naḿesti 542/2, 16610 Prague, Czech Republic
- Computational
Physics Laboratory, Tampere University, P.O. Box 692, FI-33014 Tampere, Finland
| | - Waldemar Kulig
- Department
of Physics, University of
Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tomasz Róg
- Department
of Physics, University of
Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
- Computational
Physics Laboratory, Tampere University, P.O. Box 692, FI-33014 Tampere, Finland
| | - Ilpo Vattulainen
- Department
of Physics, University of
Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
- Computational
Physics Laboratory, Tampere University, P.O. Box 692, FI-33014 Tampere, Finland
- MEMPHYS-Center
for Biomembrane Physics
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36
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Abstract
Photosystem II (PSII) uses water as the terminal electron donor, producing oxygen in the Mn4CaO5 oxygen evolving complex (OEC), while cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) reduces O2 to water in its heme–Cu binuclear center (BNC). Each protein is oriented in the membrane to add to the proton gradient. The OEC, which releases protons, is located near the P-side (positive, at low-pH) of the membrane. In contrast, the BNC is in the middle of CcO, so the protons needed for O2 reduction must be transferred from the N-side (negative, at high pH). In addition, CcO pumps protons from N- to P-side, coupled to the O2 reduction chemistry, to store additional energy. Thus, proton transfers are directly coupled to the OEC and BNC redox chemistry, as well as needed for CcO proton pumping. The simulations that study the changes in proton affinity of the redox active sites and the surrounding protein at different states of the reaction cycle, as well as the changes in hydration that modulate proton transfer paths, are described.
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37
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Prediction of perturbed proton transfer networks. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0207718. [PMID: 30540792 PMCID: PMC6291078 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2018] [Accepted: 11/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The transfer of protons through proton translocating channels is a complex process, for which direct samplings of different protonation states and side chain conformations in a transition network calculation provide an efficient, bias-free description. In principle, a new transition network calculation is required for every unsampled change in the system of interest, e.g. an unsampled protonation state change, which is associated with significant computational costs. Transition networks void of or including an unsampled change are termed unperturbed or perturbed, respectively. Here, we present a prediction method, which is based on an extensive coarse-graining of the underlying transition networks to speed up the calculations. It uses the minimum spanning tree and a corresponding sensitivity analysis of an unperturbed transition network as initial guess and refinement parameter for the determination of an unknown, perturbed transition network. Thereby, the minimum spanning tree defines a sub-network connecting all nodes without cycles and minimal edge weight sum, while the sensitivity analysis analyzes the stability of the minimum spanning tree towards individual edge weight reductions. Using the prediction method, we are able to reduce the calculation costs in a model system by up to 80%, while important network properties are maintained in most predictions.
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38
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Wang Z, Swanson JMJ, Voth GA. Modulating the Chemical Transport Properties of a Transmembrane Antiporter via Alternative Anion Flux. J Am Chem Soc 2018; 140:16535-16543. [PMID: 30421606 PMCID: PMC6379079 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b07614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
![]()
ClC-ec1 is a prototype of the ClC
antiporters, proteins that stoichiometrically
exchange Cl– and H+ ions in opposite
directions across a membrane. It has been shown that other polyatomic
anions, such as NO3– and SCN–, can also be transported by ClC-ec1, but with partially or completely
uncoupled proton flux. Herein, with the help of multiscale computer
simulations in which the Grotthuss mechanism of proton transport (PT)
is treated explicitly, we demonstrate how the chemical nature of these
anions alters the coupling mechanism and qualitatively explain the
shifts in the ion stoichiometry. Multidimensional free energy profiles
for PT and the coupled changes in hydration are presented for NO3– and SCN–. The calculated
proton conductances agree with experiment, showing reduced or abolished
proton flux. Surprisingly, the proton affinity of the anion is less
influential on the PT, while its size and interactions with the protein
significantly alter hydration and shift its influence on PT from facilitating
to inhibiting. We find that the hydration of the cavity below the
anion is relatively fast, but connecting the water network past the
steric hindrance of these polyatomic anions is quite slow. Hence,
the most relevant coordinate to the PT free energy barrier is the
water connectivity along the PT pathway, but importantly only in the
presence of the excess proton, and this coordinate is significantly
affected by the nature of the bound anion. This work again demonstrates
how PT is intrinsically coupled with protein cavity hydration changes
as well as influenced by the protein environment. It additionally
suggests ways in which ion exchange can be modulated and exchange
stoichiometries altered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhi Wang
- Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics , The University of Chicago , Chicago , Illinois 60637 , United States
| | - Jessica M J Swanson
- Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics , The University of Chicago , Chicago , Illinois 60637 , United States
| | - Gregory A Voth
- Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics , The University of Chicago , Chicago , Illinois 60637 , United States
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39
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Cai X, Haider K, Lu J, Radic S, Son CY, Cui Q, Gunner M. Network analysis of a proposed exit pathway for protons to the P-side of cytochrome c oxidase. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS 2018; 1859:997-1005. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2018.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2018] [Revised: 05/11/2018] [Accepted: 05/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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40
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Wikström M, Sharma V. Proton pumping by cytochrome c oxidase – A 40 year anniversary. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS 2018; 1859:692-698. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2018.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2018] [Accepted: 03/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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41
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Roston D, Lu X, Fang D, Demapan D, Cui Q. Analysis of Phosphoryl-Transfer Enzymes with QM/MM Free Energy Simulations. Methods Enzymol 2018; 607:53-90. [PMID: 30149869 DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2018.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
We discuss the application of quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) free energy simulations to the analysis of phosphoryl transfers catalyzed by two enzymes: alkaline phosphatase and myosin. We focus on the nature of the transition state and the issue of mechanochemical coupling, respectively, in the two enzymes. The results illustrate unique insights that emerged from the QM/MM simulations, especially concerning the interpretation of experimental data regarding the nature of enzymatic transition states and coupling between global structural transition and catalysis in the active site. We also highlight a number of technical issues worthy of attention when applying QM/MM free energy simulations, and comment on a number of technical and mechanistic issues that require further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Roston
- Department of Chemistry and Theoretical Chemistry Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Xiya Lu
- Department of Chemistry and Theoretical Chemistry Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Dong Fang
- Department of Chemistry and Theoretical Chemistry Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Darren Demapan
- Department of Chemistry and Theoretical Chemistry Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Qiang Cui
- Department of Chemistry and Theoretical Chemistry Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI, United States.
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42
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Farahvash A, Stuchebrukhov A. Investigating the Many Roles of Internal Water in Cytochrome c Oxidase. J Phys Chem B 2018; 122:7625-7635. [PMID: 30011995 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b11920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Cytochrome c oxidase (C cO) is the terminal enzyme in the respiratory electron transport chain. As part of its catalytic cycle, C cO transfers protons to its Fe-Cu binuclear center (BNC) to reduce oxygen, and in addition, it pumps protons across the mitochondrial inner, or bacterial, membrane where it is located. It is believed that this proton transport is facilitated by a network of water chains inside the enzyme. Here we present an analysis of the hydration of C cO, including the BNC region, using a semi-empirical hydration program, Dowser++, recently developed in our group. Using high-resolution X-ray data, we show that Dowser++ predictions match very accurately the water molecules seen in the D- and K-channels of C cO, as well as in the vicinity of its BNC. Moreover, Dowser++ predicts many more internal water molecules than is typically seen in the experiment. However, no significant hydration of the catalytic cavity in C cO described recently in the literature is observed. As Dowser++ itself does not account for structural changes of the protein, this result supports the earlier assessment that the proposed wetting transition in the catalytic cavity can only either be due to structural rearrangements of BNC, possibly induced by the charges during the catalytic cycle, or occur transiently, in concert with the proton transfer. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the global dynamic nature of Dowser++ waters in C cO, and the results suggest a consistent explanation as to why some predicted water molecules would be missing in the experimental structures. Furthermore, in light of the significant protein hydration predicted by Dowser++, the dielectric constant of the hydrated cavities in C cO was also investigated using the Fröhlich-Kirkwood model; the results indicate that in the cavities where water is packed sufficiently densely the dielectric constant can approach values comparable even to that of bulk water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ardavan Farahvash
- Department of Chemistry , University of California-Davis , One Shields Avenue , Davis , California 95616 , United States
| | - Alexei Stuchebrukhov
- Department of Chemistry , University of California-Davis , One Shields Avenue , Davis , California 95616 , United States
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Supekar S, Kaila VRI. Dewetting transitions coupled to K-channel activation in cytochrome c oxidase. Chem Sci 2018; 9:6703-6710. [PMID: 30310604 PMCID: PMC6115622 DOI: 10.1039/c8sc01587b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2018] [Accepted: 07/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) drives aerobic respiratory chains in all organisms by transducing the free energy from oxygen reduction into an electrochemical proton gradient across a biological membrane.
Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) drives aerobic respiratory chains in all organisms by transducing the free energy from oxygen reduction into an electrochemical proton gradient across a biological membrane. CcO employs the so-called D- and K-channels for proton uptake, but the molecular mechanism for activation of the K-channel has remained elusive for decades. We show here by combining large-scale atomistic molecular simulations with graph-theoretical water network analysis, and hybrid quantum/classical (QM/MM) free energy calculations, that the K-channel is activated by formation of a reactive oxidized intermediate in the binuclear heme a3/CuB active site. This state induces electrostatic, hydration, and conformational changes that lower the barrier for proton transfer along the K-channel by dewetting pathways that connect the D-channel with the active site. Our combined results reconcile previous experimental findings and indicate that water dynamics plays a decisive role in the proton pumping machinery in CcO.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shreyas Supekar
- Department Chemie , Technische Universität München , Lichtenbergstraße 4 , D-85748 Garching , Germany .
| | - Ville R I Kaila
- Department Chemie , Technische Universität München , Lichtenbergstraße 4 , D-85748 Garching , Germany .
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A modeling and simulation perspective on the mechanism and function of respiratory complex I. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS 2018; 1859:510-523. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2018.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2018] [Revised: 04/03/2018] [Accepted: 04/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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Wikström M, Krab K, Sharma V. Oxygen Activation and Energy Conservation by Cytochrome c Oxidase. Chem Rev 2018; 118:2469-2490. [PMID: 29350917 PMCID: PMC6203177 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.7b00664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 245] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
![]()
This review focuses on the type
A cytochrome c oxidases (CcO), which
are found in all mitochondria
and also in several aerobic bacteria. CcO catalyzes
the respiratory reduction of dioxygen (O2) to water by
an intriguing mechanism, the details of which are fairly well understood
today as a result of research for over four decades. Perhaps even
more intriguingly, the membrane-bound CcO couples
the O2 reduction chemistry to translocation of protons
across the membrane, thus contributing to generation of the electrochemical
proton gradient that is used to drive the synthesis of ATP as catalyzed
by the rotary ATP synthase in the same membrane. After reviewing the
structure of the core subunits of CcO, the active
site, and the transfer paths of electrons, protons, oxygen, and water,
we describe the states of the catalytic cycle and point out the few
remaining uncertainties. Finally, we discuss the mechanism of proton
translocation and the controversies in that area that still prevail.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mårten Wikström
- Institute of Biotechnology , University of Helsinki , P.O. Box 56 , Helsinki FI-00014 , Finland
| | - Klaas Krab
- Department of Molecular Cell Physiology , Vrije Universiteit , P.O. Box 7161 , Amsterdam 1007 MC , The Netherlands
| | - Vivek Sharma
- Institute of Biotechnology , University of Helsinki , P.O. Box 56 , Helsinki FI-00014 , Finland.,Department of Physics , University of Helsinki , P.O. Box 64 , Helsinki FI-00014 , Finland
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Sharma V, Jambrina PG, Kaukonen M, Rosta E, Rich PR. Insights into functions of the H channel of cytochrome c oxidase from atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:E10339-E10348. [PMID: 29133387 PMCID: PMC5715751 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1708628114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Proton pumping A-type cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) terminates the respiratory chains of mitochondria and many bacteria. Three possible proton transfer pathways (D, K, and H channels) have been identified based on structural, functional, and mutational data. Whereas the D channel provides the route for all pumped protons in bacterial A-type CcOs, studies of bovine mitochondrial CcO have led to suggestions that its H channel instead provides this route. Here, we have studied H-channel function by performing atomistic molecular dynamics simulations on the entire, as well as core, structure of bovine CcO in a lipid-solvent environment. The majority of residues in the H channel do not undergo large conformational fluctuations. Its upper and middle regions have adequate hydration and H-bonding residues to form potential proton-conducting channels, and Asp51 exhibits conformational fluctuations that have been observed crystallographically. In contrast, throughout the simulations, we do not observe transient water networks that could support proton transfer from the N phase toward heme a via neutral His413, regardless of a labile H bond between Ser382 and the hydroxyethylfarnesyl group of heme a In fact, the region around His413 only became sufficiently hydrated when His413 was fixed in its protonated imidazolium state, but its calculated pKa is too low for this to provide the means to create a proton transfer pathway. Our simulations show that the electric dipole moment of residues around heme a changes with the redox state, hence suggesting that the H channel could play a more general role as a dielectric well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivek Sharma
- Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
- Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Pablo G Jambrina
- Departamento de Química Física I, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Química Física Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Markus Kaukonen
- Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Edina Rosta
- Department of Chemistry, King's College London, London SE1 1DB, United Kingdom
| | - Peter R Rich
- Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
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Abstract
POT transporters represent an evolutionarily well-conserved family of proton-coupled transport systems in biology. An unusual feature of the family is their ability to couple the transport of chemically diverse ligands to an inwardly directed proton electrochemical gradient. For example, in mammals, fungi, and bacteria they are predominantly peptide transporters, whereas in plants the family has diverged to recognize nitrate, plant defense compounds, and hormones. Although recent structural and biochemical studies have identified conserved sites of proton binding, the mechanism through which transport is coupled to proton movement remains enigmatic. Here we show that different POT transporters operate through distinct proton-coupled mechanisms through changes in the extracellular gate. A high-resolution crystal structure reveals the presence of ordered water molecules within the peptide binding site. Multiscale molecular dynamics simulations confirm proton transport occurs through these waters via Grotthuss shuttling and reveal that proton binding to the extracellular side of the transporter facilitates a reorientation from an inward- to outward-facing state. Together these results demonstrate that within the POT family multiple mechanisms of proton coupling have likely evolved in conjunction with variation of the extracellular gate.
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Cavity hydration dynamics in cytochrome c oxidase and functional implications. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:E8830-E8836. [PMID: 28973914 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1707922114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) is a transmembrane protein that uses the free energy of O2 reduction to generate the proton concentration gradient across the membrane. The regulation of competitive proton transfer pathways has been established to be essential to the vectorial transport efficiency of CcO, yet the underlying mechanism at the molecular level remains lacking. Recent studies have highlighted the potential importance of hydration-level change in an internal cavity that connects the proton entrance channel, the site of O2 reduction, and the putative proton exit route. In this work, we use atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the energetics and timescales associated with the volume fluctuation and hydration-level change in this central cavity. Extensive unrestrained molecular dynamics simulations (accumulatively [Formula: see text]4 [Formula: see text]s) and free energy computations for different chemical states of CcO support a model in which the volume and hydration level of the cavity are regulated by the protonation state of a propionate group of heme a3 and, to a lesser degree, the redox state of heme a and protonation state of Glu286. Markov-state model analysis of [Formula: see text]2-[Formula: see text]s trajectories suggests that hydration-level change occurs on the timescale of 100-200 ns before the proton-loading site is protonated. The computed energetic and kinetic features for the cavity wetting transition suggest that reversible hydration-level change of the cavity can indeed be a key factor that regulates the branching of proton transfer events and therefore contributes to the vectorial efficiency of proton transport.
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Liang R, Swanson JMJ, Wikström M, Voth GA. Understanding the essential proton-pumping kinetic gates and decoupling mutations in cytochrome c oxidase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:5924-5929. [PMID: 28536198 PMCID: PMC5468613 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1703654114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) catalyzes the reduction of oxygen to water and uses the released free energy to pump protons against the transmembrane proton gradient. To better understand the proton-pumping mechanism of the wild-type (WT) CcO, much attention has been given to the mutation of amino acid residues along the proton translocating D-channel that impair, and sometimes decouple, proton pumping from the chemical catalysis. Although their influence has been clearly demonstrated experimentally, the underlying molecular mechanisms of these mutants remain unknown. In this work, we report multiscale reactive molecular dynamics simulations that characterize the free-energy profiles of explicit proton transport through several important D-channel mutants. Our results elucidate the mechanisms by which proton pumping is impaired, thus revealing key kinetic gating features in CcO. In the N139T and N139C mutants, proton back leakage through the D-channel is kinetically favored over proton pumping due to the loss of a kinetic gate in the N139 region. In the N139L mutant, the bulky L139 side chain inhibits timely reprotonation of E286 through the D-channel, which impairs both proton pumping and the chemical reaction. In the S200V/S201V double mutant, the proton affinity of E286 is increased, which slows down both proton pumping and the chemical catalysis. This work thus not only provides insight into the decoupling mechanisms of CcO mutants, but also explains how kinetic gating in the D-channel is imperative to achieving high proton-pumping efficiency in the WT CcO.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruibin Liang
- Department of Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637
| | - Jessica M J Swanson
- Department of Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637;
| | - Mårten Wikström
- Helsinki Bioenergetics Group, Programme for Structural Biology and Biophysics, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Gregory A Voth
- Department of Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637;
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Sun R, Sode O, Dama JF, Voth GA. Simulating Protein Mediated Hydrolysis of ATP and Other Nucleoside Triphosphates by Combining QM/MM Molecular Dynamics with Advances in Metadynamics. J Chem Theory Comput 2017; 13:2332-2341. [PMID: 28345907 PMCID: PMC5425946 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The protein mediated hydrolysis of nucleoside triphosphates such as ATP or GTP is one of the most important and challenging biochemical reactions in nature. The chemical environment (water structure, catalytic metal, and amino acid residues) adjacent to the hydrolysis site contains hundreds of atoms, usually greatly limiting the amount of the free energy sampling that one can achieve from computationally demanding electronic structure calculations such as QM/MM simulations. Therefore, the combination of QM/MM molecular dynamics with the recently developed transition-tempered metadynamics (TTMetaD), an enhanced sampling method that can provide a high-quality free energy estimate at an early stage in a simulation, is an ideal approach to address the biomolecular nucleoside triphosphate hydrolysis problem. In this work the ATP hydrolysis process in monomeric and filamentous actin is studied as an example application of the combined methodology. The performance of TTMetaD in these demanding QM/MM simulations is compared with that of the more conventional well-tempered metadynamics (WTMetaD). Our results show that TTMetaD exhibits much better exploration of the hydrolysis reaction free energy surface in two key collective variables (CVs) during the early stages of the QM/MM simulation than does WTMetaD. The TTMetaD simulations also reveal that a key third degree of freedom, the O-H bond-breaking and proton transfer from the lytic water, must be biased for TTMetaD to converge fully. To perturb the NTP hydrolysis dynamics to the least extent and to properly focus the MetaD free energy sampling, we also adopt here the recently developed metabasin metadynamics (MBMetaD) to construct a self-limiting bias potential that only applies to the lytic water after its nucleophilic attack of the phosphate of ATP. With these new, state-of-the-art enhanced sampling metadynamics techniques, we present an effective and accurate computational strategy for combining QM/MM molecular dynamics simulation with free energy sampling methodology, including a means to analyze the convergence of the calculations through robust numerical criteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Sun
- Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago , 5735 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Olaseni Sode
- Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago , 5735 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - James F Dama
- Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago , 5735 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Gregory A Voth
- Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago , 5735 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
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