Effects of CMAP and Electrostatic Cutoffs on the Dynamics of an Integral Membrane Protein: The Phospholamban Study

Structural dynamics of inosine triphosphate pyrophosphatase (ITPA) protein and two clinically relevant mutants: molecular dynamics simulations

The inosine triphosphate pyrophosphatase (ITPA) protein is responsible for removing noncanonical purine nucleoside triphosphates from intracellular nucleotide pools. Absence of ITPA results in genomic instability and increased levels of inosine in DNA and RNA. The proline to threonine substitution at position 32 (P32T) affects roughly 15% of the global population and can modulate treatment outcomes for cancer, lupus, and hepatitis C patients. The substitution of arginine with cysteine at position 178 (R178C) is extremely uncommon and has only been reported in a small cohort of early infantile encephalopathy patients suggesting that a functional ITPA protein is required for life in humans. Here we present molecular dynamic simulations that describe the structure and dynamics of the wild-type ITPA homodimer and two of its clinically relevant mutants, P32T and R178C. The simulation results indicate that both the P32T and R178C mutations alter the structure and dynamic properties of the protein and provide a possible explanation of the experimentally observed effect of the mutations on ITPA activity. Specifically, the mutations increased the overall flexibility of the protein and changed the dominant collective motions of the top lobe as well as the helix 2 of the lower lobe. Moreover, we have identified key active-site residues that are classified as essential or intermediate for inosine triphosphate (ITP) hydrolyzing activity based on their hydrogen bond occupancy. Here we also present biochemical data indicating that the R178C mutant has very low ITP hydrolyzing activity.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Molecular modeling of peptides

This article presents a review of the field of molecular modeling of peptides. The main focus is on atomistic modeling with molecular mechanics potentials. The description of peptide conformations and solvation through potentials is discussed. Several important computer simulation methods are briefly introduced, including molecular dynamics, accelerated sampling approaches such as replica-exchange and metadynamics, free energy simulations and kinetic network models like Milestoning. Examples of recent applications for predictions of structure, kinetics, and interactions of peptides with complex environments are described. The reliability of current simulation methods is analyzed by comparison of computational predictions obtained using different models with each other and with experimental data. A brief discussion of coarse-grained modeling and future directions is also presented.

A proposal for the revision of molecular boundary typology

Molecular shape is essential in understanding molecular function, and understanding molecular shape requires definition of molecular boundaries. In this paper, we review the conceptual evolution of three molecular boundary types: the van der Waals surface, the Connolly surface, and the Lee-Richards (accessible) surface. Then, we point out the confusion among the names of these surfaces existing in the literature. Since it is desirable to have a well-defined terminology in a discipline, we propose the standard names of the three molecular boundary types and their corresponding volumes in order to maximize consistency among researchers, respect the first individual who defined or computed a surface type, and promote collaboration between biologists and geometers.