1
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Chamness LM, Kuntz CP, McKee AG, Penn WD, Hemmerich CM, Rusch DB, Woods H, Dyotima, Meiler J, Schlebach JP. Divergent folding-mediated epistasis among unstable membrane protein variants. eLife 2024; 12:RP92406. [PMID: 39078397 PMCID: PMC11288631 DOI: 10.7554/elife.92406] [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: 07/31/2024] Open
Abstract
Many membrane proteins are prone to misfolding, which compromises their functional expression at the plasma membrane. This is particularly true for the mammalian gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor GPCRs (GnRHR). We recently demonstrated that evolutionary GnRHR modifications appear to have coincided with adaptive changes in cotranslational folding efficiency. Though protein stability is known to shape evolution, it is unclear how cotranslational folding constraints modulate the synergistic, epistatic interactions between mutations. We therefore compared the pairwise interactions formed by mutations that disrupt the membrane topology (V276T) or tertiary structure (W107A) of GnRHR. Using deep mutational scanning, we evaluated how the plasma membrane expression of these variants is modified by hundreds of secondary mutations. An analysis of 251 mutants in three genetic backgrounds reveals that V276T and W107A form distinct epistatic interactions that depend on both the severity and the mechanism of destabilization. V276T forms predominantly negative epistatic interactions with destabilizing mutations in soluble loops. In contrast, W107A forms positive interactions with mutations in both loops and transmembrane domains that reflect the diminishing impacts of the destabilizing mutations in variants that are already unstable. These findings reveal how epistasis is remodeled by conformational defects in membrane proteins and in unstable proteins more generally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M Chamness
- Department of Chemistry, Indiana UniversityBloomingtonUnited States
| | - Charles P Kuntz
- The James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo Department of Chemistry, Purdue UniversityWest LafayetteUnited States
| | - Andrew G McKee
- Department of Chemistry, Indiana UniversityBloomingtonUnited States
| | - Wesley D Penn
- Department of Chemistry, Indiana UniversityBloomingtonUnited States
| | | | - Douglas B Rusch
- Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Indiana UniversityBloomingtonUnited States
| | - Hope Woods
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt UniversityNashvilleUnited States
- Chemical and Physical Biology Program, Vanderbilt UniversityNashvilleUnited States
| | - Dyotima
- Department of Chemistry, Indiana UniversityBloomingtonUnited States
| | - Jens Meiler
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt UniversityNashvilleUnited States
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig UniversityLeipzigGermany
| | - Jonathan P Schlebach
- The James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo Department of Chemistry, Purdue UniversityWest LafayetteUnited States
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2
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Metzger BPH, Park Y, Starr TN, Thornton JW. Epistasis facilitates functional evolution in an ancient transcription factor. eLife 2024; 12:RP88737. [PMID: 38767330 PMCID: PMC11105156 DOI: 10.7554/elife.88737] [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: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
A protein's genetic architecture - the set of causal rules by which its sequence produces its functions - also determines its possible evolutionary trajectories. Prior research has proposed that the genetic architecture of proteins is very complex, with pervasive epistatic interactions that constrain evolution and make function difficult to predict from sequence. Most of this work has analyzed only the direct paths between two proteins of interest - excluding the vast majority of possible genotypes and evolutionary trajectories - and has considered only a single protein function, leaving unaddressed the genetic architecture of functional specificity and its impact on the evolution of new functions. Here, we develop a new method based on ordinal logistic regression to directly characterize the global genetic determinants of multiple protein functions from 20-state combinatorial deep mutational scanning (DMS) experiments. We use it to dissect the genetic architecture and evolution of a transcription factor's specificity for DNA, using data from a combinatorial DMS of an ancient steroid hormone receptor's capacity to activate transcription from two biologically relevant DNA elements. We show that the genetic architecture of DNA recognition consists of a dense set of main and pairwise effects that involve virtually every possible amino acid state in the protein-DNA interface, but higher-order epistasis plays only a tiny role. Pairwise interactions enlarge the set of functional sequences and are the primary determinants of specificity for different DNA elements. They also massively expand the number of opportunities for single-residue mutations to switch specificity from one DNA target to another. By bringing variants with different functions close together in sequence space, pairwise epistasis therefore facilitates rather than constrains the evolution of new functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian PH Metzger
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of ChicagoChicagoUnited States
| | - Yeonwoo Park
- Program in Genetics, Genomics, and Systems Biology, University of ChicagoChicagoUnited States
| | - Tyler N Starr
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, University of ChicagoChicagoUnited States
| | - Joseph W Thornton
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of ChicagoChicagoUnited States
- Department of Human Genetics, University of ChicagoChicagoUnited States
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3
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Chamness LM, Kuntz CP, McKee AG, Penn WD, Hemmerich CM, Rusch DB, Woods H, Dyotima, Meiler J, Schlebach JP. Divergent Folding-Mediated Epistasis Among Unstable Membrane Protein Variants. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.08.25.554866. [PMID: 37662415 PMCID: PMC10473758 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.25.554866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
Many membrane proteins are prone to misfolding, which compromises their functional expression at the plasma membrane. This is particularly true for the mammalian gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor GPCRs (GnRHR). We recently demonstrated that evolutionary GnRHR modifications appear to have coincided with adaptive changes in cotranslational folding efficiency. Though protein stability is known to shape evolution, it is unclear how cotranslational folding constraints modulate the synergistic, epistatic interactions between mutations. We therefore compared the pairwise interactions formed by mutations that disrupt the membrane topology (V276T) or tertiary structure (W107A) of GnRHR. Using deep mutational scanning, we evaluated how the plasma membrane expression of these variants is modified by hundreds of secondary mutations. An analysis of 251 mutants in three genetic backgrounds reveals that V276T and W107A form distinct epistatic interactions that depend on both the severity and the mechanism of destabilization. V276T forms predominantly negative epistatic interactions with destabilizing mutations in soluble loops. In contrast, W107A forms positive interactions with mutations in both loops and transmembrane domains that reflect the diminishing impacts of the destabilizing mutations in variants that are already unstable. These findings reveal how epistasis is remodeled by conformational defects in membrane proteins and in unstable proteins more generally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M. Chamness
- Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Charles P. Kuntz
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
| | - Andrew G. McKee
- Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Wesley D. Penn
- Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | | | - Douglas B. Rusch
- Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Hope Woods
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Chemical and Physical Biology Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Dyotima
- Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Jens Meiler
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Leipzig, SAC, Germany
| | - Jonathan P. Schlebach
- Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
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4
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Almeida de Jesus D, Batista DM, Monteiro EF, Salzman S, Carvalho LM, Santana K, André T. Structural changes and adaptative evolutionary constraints in FLOWERING LOCUS T and TERMINAL FLOWER1-like genes of flowering plants. Front Genet 2022; 13:954015. [PMID: 36246591 PMCID: PMC9556947 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.954015] [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: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Regulation of flowering is a crucial event in the evolutionary history of angiosperms. The production of flowers is regulated through the integration of different environmental and endogenous stimuli, many of which involve the activation of different genes in a hierarchical and complex signaling network. The FLOWERING LOCUS T/TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (FT/TFL1) gene family is known to regulate important aspects of flowering in plants. To better understand the pivotal events that changed FT and TFL1 functions during the evolution of angiosperms, we reconstructed the ancestral sequences of FT/TFL1-like genes and predicted protein structures through in silico modeling to identify determinant sites that evolved in both proteins and allowed the adaptative diversification in the flowering phenology and developmental processes. In addition, we demonstrate that the occurrence of destabilizing mutations in residues located at the phosphatidylcholine binding sites of FT structure are under positive selection, and some residues of 4th exon are under negative selection, which is compensated by the occurrence of stabilizing mutations in key regions and the P-loop to maintain the overall protein stability. Our results shed light on the evolutionary history of key genes involved in the diversification of angiosperms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deivid Almeida de Jesus
- Institute of Biology Genetics Graduate Program, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Darlisson Mesquista Batista
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará Santarém, Pará, Santarém, Brazil
| | - Elton Figueira Monteiro
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará Santarém, Pará, Santarém, Brazil
| | - Shayla Salzman
- School of Integrative Plant Sciences. Section of Plant Biology. Cornell University Ithaca, New York, NY, United States
| | - Lucas Miguel Carvalho
- Center for Computing in Engineering and Sciences, State University of Campinas. Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Kauê Santana
- Institute of Biodiversity, Federal University of Western Pará Santarém Pará, Santarém, Brazil
- *Correspondence: Kauê Santana, ; Thiago André,
| | - Thiago André
- Botany Department, University of Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
- *Correspondence: Kauê Santana, ; Thiago André,
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5
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Vanella R, Kovacevic G, Doffini V, Fernández de Santaella J, Nash MA. High-throughput screening, next generation sequencing and machine learning: advanced methods in enzyme engineering. Chem Commun (Camb) 2022; 58:2455-2467. [PMID: 35107442 PMCID: PMC8851469 DOI: 10.1039/d1cc04635g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 01/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Enzyme engineering is an important biotechnological process capable of generating tailored biocatalysts for applications in industrial chemical conversion and biopharma. Typical enhancements sought in enzyme engineering and in vitro evolution campaigns include improved folding stability, catalytic activity, and/or substrate specificity. Despite significant progress in recent years in the areas of high-throughput screening and DNA sequencing, our ability to explore the vast space of functional enzyme sequences remains severely limited. Here, we review the currently available suite of modern methods for enzyme engineering, with a focus on novel readout systems based on enzyme cascades, and new approaches to reaction compartmentalization including single-cell hydrogel encapsulation techniques to achieve a genotype-phenotype link. We further summarize systematic scanning mutagenesis approaches and their merger with deep mutational scanning and massively parallel next-generation DNA sequencing technologies to generate mutability landscapes. Finally, we discuss the implementation of machine learning models for computational prediction of enzyme phenotypic fitness from sequence. This broad overview of current state-of-the-art approaches for enzyme engineering and evolution will aid newcomers and experienced researchers alike in identifying the important challenges that should be addressed to move the field forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosario Vanella
- Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Gordana Kovacevic
- Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Vanni Doffini
- Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Jaime Fernández de Santaella
- Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Michael A Nash
- Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
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6
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Kuiper BP, Prins RC, Billerbeck S. Oligo Pools as an Affordable Source of Synthetic DNA for Cost-Effective Library Construction in Protein- and Metabolic Pathway Engineering. Chembiochem 2021; 23:e202100507. [PMID: 34817110 PMCID: PMC9300125 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202100507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Revised: 11/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The construction of custom libraries is critical for rational protein engineering and directed evolution. Array‐synthesized oligo pools of thousands of user‐defined sequences (up to ∼350 bases in length) have emerged as a low‐cost commercially available source of DNA. These pools cost ≤10 % (depending on error rate and length) of other commercial sources of custom DNA, and this significant cost difference can determine whether an enzyme engineering project can be realized on a given research budget. However, while being cheap, oligo pools do suffer from a low concentration of individual oligos and relatively high error rates. Several powerful techniques that specifically make use of oligo pools have been developed and proven valuable or even essential for next‐generation protein and pathway engineering strategies, such as sequence‐function mapping, enzyme minimization, or de‐novo design. Here we consolidate the knowledge on these techniques and their applications to facilitate the use of oligo pools within the protein engineering community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bastiaan P Kuiper
- Molecular Microbiology, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Rianne C Prins
- Molecular Microbiology, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Sonja Billerbeck
- Molecular Microbiology, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
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7
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Markin CJ, Mokhtari DA, Sunden F, Appel MJ, Akiva E, Longwell SA, Sabatti C, Herschlag D, Fordyce PM. Revealing enzyme functional architecture via high-throughput microfluidic enzyme kinetics. Science 2021; 373:373/6553/eabf8761. [PMID: 34437092 DOI: 10.1126/science.abf8761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Systematic and extensive investigation of enzymes is needed to understand their extraordinary efficiency and meet current challenges in medicine and engineering. We present HT-MEK (High-Throughput Microfluidic Enzyme Kinetics), a microfluidic platform for high-throughput expression, purification, and characterization of more than 1500 enzyme variants per experiment. For 1036 mutants of the alkaline phosphatase PafA (phosphate-irrepressible alkaline phosphatase of Flavobacterium), we performed more than 670,000 reactions and determined more than 5000 kinetic and physical constants for multiple substrates and inhibitors. We uncovered extensive kinetic partitioning to a misfolded state and isolated catalytic effects, revealing spatially contiguous regions of residues linked to particular aspects of function. Regions included active-site proximal residues but extended to the enzyme surface, providing a map of underlying architecture not possible to derive from existing approaches. HT-MEK has applications that range from understanding molecular mechanisms to medicine, engineering, and design.
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Affiliation(s)
- C J Markin
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - D A Mokhtari
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - F Sunden
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - M J Appel
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - E Akiva
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - S A Longwell
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - C Sabatti
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.,Department of Statistics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - D Herschlag
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. .,Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.,ChEM-H Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - P M Fordyce
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. .,ChEM-H Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.,Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.,Chan Zuckerberg Biohub; San Francisco, CA 94110, USA
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8
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Swint-Kruse L, Martin TA, Page BM, Wu T, Gerhart PM, Dougherty LL, Tang Q, Parente DJ, Mosier BR, Bantis LE, Fenton AW. Rheostat functional outcomes occur when substitutions are introduced at nonconserved positions that diverge with speciation. Protein Sci 2021; 30:1833-1853. [PMID: 34076313 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Revised: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
When amino acids vary during evolution, the outcome can be functionally neutral or biologically-important. We previously found that substituting a subset of nonconserved positions, "rheostat" positions, can have surprising effects on protein function. Since changes at rheostat positions can facilitate functional evolution or cause disease, more examples are needed to understand their unique biophysical characteristics. Here, we explored whether "phylogenetic" patterns of change in multiple sequence alignments (such as positions with subfamily specific conservation) predict the locations of functional rheostat positions. To that end, we experimentally tested eight phylogenetic positions in human liver pyruvate kinase (hLPYK), using 10-15 substitutions per position and biochemical assays that yielded five functional parameters. Five positions were strongly rheostatic and three were non-neutral. To test the corollary that positions with low phylogenetic scores were not rheostat positions, we combined these phylogenetic positions with previously-identified hLPYK rheostat, "toggle" (most substitution abolished function), and "neutral" (all substitutions were like wild-type) positions. Despite representing 428 variants, this set of 33 positions was poorly statistically powered. Thus, we turned to the in vivo phenotypic dataset for E. coli lactose repressor protein (LacI), which comprised 12-13 substitutions at 329 positions and could be used to identify rheostat, toggle, and neutral positions. Combined hLPYK and LacI results show that positions with strong phylogenetic patterns of change are more likely to exhibit rheostat substitution outcomes than neutral or toggle outcomes. Furthermore, phylogenetic patterns were more successful at identifying rheostat positions than were co-evolutionary or eigenvector centrality measures of evolutionary change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liskin Swint-Kruse
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Tyler A Martin
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Braelyn M Page
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Tiffany Wu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Paige M Gerhart
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Larissa L Dougherty
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA.,Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Qingling Tang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Daniel J Parente
- Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Brian R Mosier
- Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Leonidas E Bantis
- Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Aron W Fenton
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
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9
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Romero-Romero S, Kordes S, Michel F, Höcker B. Evolution, folding, and design of TIM barrels and related proteins. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2021; 68:94-104. [PMID: 33453500 PMCID: PMC8250049 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2020.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2020] [Revised: 12/13/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Proteins are chief actors in life that perform a myriad of exquisite functions. This diversity has been enabled through the evolution and diversification of protein folds. Analysis of sequences and structures strongly suggest that numerous protein pieces have been reused as building blocks and propagated to many modern folds. This information can be traced to understand how the protein world has diversified. In this review, we discuss the latest advances in the analysis of protein evolutionary units, and we use as a model system one of the most abundant and versatile topologies, the TIM-barrel fold, to highlight the existing common principles that interconnect protein evolution, structure, folding, function, and design.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sina Kordes
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Florian Michel
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Birte Höcker
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
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10
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Routh S, Acharyya A, Dhar R. A two-step PCR assembly for construction of gene variants across large mutational distances. Biol Methods Protoc 2021; 6:bpab007. [PMID: 33928191 PMCID: PMC8062255 DOI: 10.1093/biomethods/bpab007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Revised: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Construction of empirical fitness landscapes has transformed our understanding of genotype-phenotype relationships across genes. However, most empirical fitness landscapes have been constrained to the local genotype neighbourhood of a gene primarily due to our limited ability to systematically construct genotypes that differ by a large number of mutations. Although a few methods have been proposed in the literature, these techniques are complex owing to several steps of construction or contain a large number of amplification cycles that increase chances of non-specific mutations. A few other described methods require amplification of the whole vector, thereby increasing the chances of vector backbone mutations that can have unintended consequences for study of fitness landscapes. Thus, this has substantially constrained us from traversing large mutational distances in the genotype network, thereby limiting our understanding of the interactions between multiple mutations and the role these interactions play in evolution of novel phenotypes. In the current work, we present a simple but powerful approach that allows us to systematically and accurately construct gene variants at large mutational distances. Our approach relies on building-up small fragments containing targeted mutations in the first step followed by assembly of these fragments into the complete gene fragment by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We demonstrate the utility of our approach by constructing variants that differ by up to 11 mutations in a model gene. Our work thus provides an accurate method for construction of multi-mutant variants of genes and therefore will transform the studies of empirical fitness landscapes by enabling exploration of genotypes that are far away from a starting genotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shreya Routh
- Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, West Bengal, India
| | - Anamika Acharyya
- Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, West Bengal, India
| | - Riddhiman Dhar
- Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, West Bengal, India
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11
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Modi T, Campitelli P, Kazan IC, Ozkan SB. Protein folding stability and binding interactions through the lens of evolution: a dynamical perspective. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2020; 66:207-215. [PMID: 33388636 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2020.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2020] [Revised: 11/02/2020] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
While the function of a protein depends heavily on its ability to fold into a correct 3D structure, billions of years of evolution have tailored proteins from highly stable objects to flexible molecules as they adapted to environmental changes. Nature maintains the fine balance of protein folding and stability while still evolving towards new function through generations of fine-tuning necessary interactions with other proteins and small molecules. Here we focus on recent computational and experimental studies that shed light onto how evolution molds protein folding and the functional landscape from a conformational dynamics' perspective. Particularly, we explore the importance of dynamic allostery throughout protein evolution and discuss how the protein anisotropic network can give rise to allosteric and epistatic interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tushar Modi
- Department of Physics and Center for Biological Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1504, USA
| | - Paul Campitelli
- Department of Physics and Center for Biological Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1504, USA
| | - Ismail Can Kazan
- Department of Physics and Center for Biological Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1504, USA
| | - Sefika Banu Ozkan
- Department of Physics and Center for Biological Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1504, USA.
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12
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Steiner PJ, Baumer ZT, Whitehead TA. A Method for User-defined Mutagenesis by Integrating Oligo Pool Synthesis Technology with Nicking Mutagenesis. Bio Protoc 2020; 10:e3697. [PMID: 33659364 DOI: 10.21769/bioprotoc.3697] [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: 03/18/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Saturation mutagenesis is a fundamental enabling technology for protein engineering and epitope mapping. Nicking mutagenesis (NM) allows the user to rapidly construct libraries of all possible single mutations in a target protein sequence from plasmid DNA in a one-pot procedure. Briefly, one strand of the plasmid DNA is degraded using a nicking restriction endonuclease and exonuclease treatment. Mutagenic primers encoding the desired mutations are annealed to the resulting circular single-stranded DNA, extended with high-fidelity polymerase, and ligated into covalently closed circular DNA by Taq DNA ligase. The heteroduplex DNA is resolved by selective degradation of the template strand. The complementary strand is synthesized and ligated, resulting in a library of mutated covalently closed circular plasmids. It was later shown that because very little primer is used in the procedure, resuspended oligo pools, which normally require amplification before use, can be used directly in the mutagenesis procedure. Because oligo pools can contain tens of thousands of unique oligos, this enables the construction of libraries of tens of thousands of user-defined mutations in a single-pot mutagenesis reaction, which significantly improves the utility of NM as described below. Use of oligo pools afford an economically advantageous approach to mutagenic experiments. First, oligo pool synthesis is much less expensive per nucleotide synthesized than conventional synthesis. Second, a mixed pool may be generated and used for mutagenesis of multiple different genes. To use the same oligo-pool for mutagenesis of a variety of genes, the user must only quantify the fraction of the oligo-pool specific to her mutagenic experiment and adjust the volume and effective concentration of the oligo-pool for use in nicking mutagenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul J Steiner
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | - Zachary T Baumer
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | - Timothy A Whitehead
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado, USA
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13
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Allostery and Epistasis: Emergent Properties of Anisotropic Networks. ENTROPY 2020; 22:e22060667. [PMID: 33286439 PMCID: PMC7517209 DOI: 10.3390/e22060667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Revised: 06/02/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the underlying mechanisms behind protein allostery and non-additivity of substitution outcomes (i.e., epistasis) is critical when attempting to predict the functional impact of mutations, particularly at non-conserved sites. In an effort to model these two biological properties, we extend the framework of our metric to calculate dynamic coupling between residues, the Dynamic Coupling Index (DCI) to two new metrics: (i) EpiScore, which quantifies the difference between the residue fluctuation response of a functional site when two other positions are perturbed with random Brownian kicks simultaneously versus individually to capture the degree of cooperativity of these two other positions in modulating the dynamics of the functional site and (ii) DCIasym, which measures the degree of asymmetry between the residue fluctuation response of two sites when one or the other is perturbed with a random force. Applied to four independent systems, we successfully show that EpiScore and DCIasym can capture important biophysical properties in dual mutant substitution outcomes. We propose that allosteric regulation and the mechanisms underlying non-additive amino acid substitution outcomes (i.e., epistasis) can be understood as emergent properties of an anisotropic network of interactions where the inclusion of the full network of interactions is critical for accurate modeling. Consequently, mutations which drive towards a new function may require a fine balance between functional site asymmetry and strength of dynamic coupling with the functional sites. These two tools will provide mechanistic insight into both understanding and predicting the outcome of dual mutations.
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Abstract
Knowledge of the distribution of fitness effects (DFE) of mutations is critical to the understanding of protein evolution. Here, we describe methods for large-scale, systematic measurements of the DFE using growth competition and deep mutational scanning. We discuss techniques for producing comprehensive libraries of gene variants as well as provide necessary considerations for designing these experiments. Using these methods, we have constructed libraries containing over 18,000 variants, measured fitness effects of these mutations by deep mutational scanning, and verified the presence of fitness effects in individual variants. Our methods provide a high-throughput protocol for measuring biological fitness effects of mutations and the dependence of fitness effects on the environment.
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Faber MS, Van Leuven JT, Ederer MM, Sapozhnikov Y, Wilson ZL, Wichman HA, Whitehead TA, Miller CR. Saturation Mutagenesis Genome Engineering of Infective ΦX174 Bacteriophage via Unamplified Oligo Pools and Golden Gate Assembly. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:125-131. [PMID: 31825605 PMCID: PMC7055157 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00411] [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] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Here we present a novel protocol for the construction of saturation single-site-and massive multisite-mutant libraries of a bacteriophage. We segmented the ΦX174 genome into 14 nontoxic and nonreplicative fragments compatible with Golden Gate assembly. We next used nicking mutagenesis with oligonucleotides prepared from unamplified oligo pools with individual segments as templates to prepare near-comprehensive single-site mutagenesis libraries of genes encoding the F capsid protein (421 amino acids scanned) and G spike protein (172 amino acids scanned). Libraries possessed greater than 99% of all 11 860 programmed mutations. Golden Gate cloning was then used to assemble the complete ΦX174 mutant genome and generate libraries of infective viruses. This protocol will enable reverse genetics experiments for studying viral evolution and, with some modifications, can be applied for engineering therapeutically relevant bacteriophages with larger genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew S. Faber
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - James T. Van Leuven
- Institute for Modeling Collaboration and Innovation, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, United States
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, United States
| | - Martina M. Ederer
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, United States
| | - Yesol Sapozhnikov
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, United States
| | - Zoë L. Wilson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, United States
| | - Holly A. Wichman
- Institute for Modeling Collaboration and Innovation, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, United States
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, United States
| | - Timothy A. Whitehead
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80303, United States
- Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Craig R. Miller
- Institute for Modeling Collaboration and Innovation, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, United States
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, United States
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