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Datta Darshan VM, Arumugam N, Almansour AI, Sivaramakrishnan V, Kanchi S. In silico energetic and molecular dynamic simulations studies demonstrate potential effect of the point mutations with implications for protein engineering in BDNF. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 271:132247. [PMID: 38750847 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.132247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2024] [Revised: 05/01/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024]
Abstract
Protein engineering by directed evolution is time-consuming. Hence, in silico techniques like FoldX-Yasara for ∆∆G calculation, and SNPeffect for predicting propensity for aggregation, amyloid formation, and chaperone binding are employed to design proteins. Here, we used in silico techniques to engineer BDNF-NTF3 interaction and validated it using mutations with known functional implications for NGF dimer. The structures of three mutants representing a positive, negative, or neutral ∆∆G involving two interface residues in BDNF and two mutations representing a neutral and positive ∆∆G in NGF, which is aligned with BDNF, were selected for molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Our MD results conclude that the secondary structure of individual protomers of the positive and negative mutants displayed a similar or different conformation from the NTF3 monomer, respectively. The positive mutants showed fewer hydrophobic interactions and higher hydrogen bonds compared to the wild-type, negative, and neutral mutants with similar SASA, suggesting solvent-mediated disruption of hydrogen-bonded interactions. Similar results were obtained for mutations with known functional implications for NGF and BDNF. The results suggest that mutations with known effects in homologous proteins could help in validation, and in silico directed evolution experiments could be a viable alternative to the experimental technique used for protein engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- V M Datta Darshan
- Disease Biology Lab, Department of Biosciences, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthi Nilayam, Andhra Pradesh 515134, India
| | - Natarajan Arumugam
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdulrahman I Almansour
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Venketesh Sivaramakrishnan
- Disease Biology Lab, Department of Biosciences, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthi Nilayam, Andhra Pradesh 515134, India.
| | - Subbarao Kanchi
- Department of Physics, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthi Nilayam, Andhra Pradesh 515134, India.
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2
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Vasilyeva TA, Sukhanova NV, Khalanskaya OV, Marakhonov AV, Prokhorov NS, Kadyshev VV, Skryabin NA, Kutsev SI, Zinchenko RA. An Unusual Presentation of Novel Missense Variant in PAX6 Gene: NM_000280.4:c.341A>G, p.(Asn114Ser). Curr Issues Mol Biol 2023; 46:96-105. [PMID: 38248310 PMCID: PMC10814852 DOI: 10.3390/cimb46010008] [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: 11/22/2023] [Revised: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024] Open
Abstract
This study investigates a unique and complex eye phenotype characterized by minimal iris defects, foveal hypoplasia, optic nerve coloboma, and severe posterior segment damage. Through genetic analysis and bioinformatic tools, a specific nonsynonymous substitution, p.(Asn114Ser), within the PAX6 gene's paired domain is identified. Although this substitution is not in direct contact with DNA, its predicted stabilizing effect on the protein structure challenges the traditional understanding of PAX6 mutations, suggesting a gain-of-function mechanism. Contrary to classical loss-of-function effects, this gain-of-function hypothesis aligns with research demonstrating PAX6's dosage sensitivity. Gain-of-function mutations, though less common, can lead to diverse phenotypes distinct from aniridia. Our findings emphasize PAX6's multifaceted influence on ocular phenotypes and the importance of genetic variations. We contribute a new perspective on PAX6 mutations by suggesting a potential gain-of-function mechanism and showcasing the complexities of ocular development. This study sheds light on the intricate interplay of the genetic alterations and regulatory mechanisms underlying complex eye phenotypes. Further research, validation, and collaboration are crucial to unravel the nuanced interactions shaping ocular health and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatyana A. Vasilyeva
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, 115522 Moscow, Russia; (T.A.V.); (N.V.S.); (O.V.K.); (V.V.K.); (S.I.K.); (R.A.Z.)
| | - Natella V. Sukhanova
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, 115522 Moscow, Russia; (T.A.V.); (N.V.S.); (O.V.K.); (V.V.K.); (S.I.K.); (R.A.Z.)
| | - Olga V. Khalanskaya
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, 115522 Moscow, Russia; (T.A.V.); (N.V.S.); (O.V.K.); (V.V.K.); (S.I.K.); (R.A.Z.)
| | - Andrey V. Marakhonov
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, 115522 Moscow, Russia; (T.A.V.); (N.V.S.); (O.V.K.); (V.V.K.); (S.I.K.); (R.A.Z.)
| | - Nikolai S. Prokhorov
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA;
| | - Vitaly V. Kadyshev
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, 115522 Moscow, Russia; (T.A.V.); (N.V.S.); (O.V.K.); (V.V.K.); (S.I.K.); (R.A.Z.)
| | - Nikolay A. Skryabin
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 634050 Tomsk, Russia;
| | - Sergey I. Kutsev
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, 115522 Moscow, Russia; (T.A.V.); (N.V.S.); (O.V.K.); (V.V.K.); (S.I.K.); (R.A.Z.)
| | - Rena A. Zinchenko
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, 115522 Moscow, Russia; (T.A.V.); (N.V.S.); (O.V.K.); (V.V.K.); (S.I.K.); (R.A.Z.)
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3
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Li Z, Zhao C, Li D, Wang L. Enhancing the thermostability of Streptomyces cyaneofuscatus strain Ms1 tyrosinase by multi-factors rational design and molecular dynamics simulations. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0288929. [PMID: 37471348 PMCID: PMC10358999 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288929] [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: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/22/2023] Open
Abstract
This study presents a multi-factor rational design strategy combined with molecular dynamics simulation to improve the thermostability of Streptomyces cyaneofuscatus strain Ms1 tyrosinase. Candidate mutation sites were identified using Discovery Studio and FoldX software, and the double mutant G124W/G137W was obtained. The mutant was heterogeneously expressed in Escherichia coli strain Rosetta2 (DE3), and its thermostability was verified. Results indicate that the rational design method, combined with molecular dynamics simulation and protein energy calculation, improved the enzyme's thermostability more accurately and effectively. The double mutant G124W/G137W had an optimum temperature of 60°C, about 5.0°C higher than that of the wild-type TYRwt, and its activity was 171.06% higher than the wild-type TYRwt. Its thermostability was enhanced, 42.78% higher than the wild-type at 50°C. These findings suggest that the rational design strategy applied in this study can facilitate the application of industrial enzymes in the pharmaceutical industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengtao Li
- School of Pharmacy, Qingdao University, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China
| | - Chen Zhao
- School of Pharmacy, Chengdu University, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Duanhua Li
- School of Pharmacy, Chengdu University, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Lu Wang
- School of Pharmacy, Qingdao University, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China
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4
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Hill C, Hudaiberdiev S, Ovcharenko I. ChromDL: A Next-Generation Regulatory DNA Classifier. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.01.27.525971. [PMID: 36789431 PMCID: PMC9928050 DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.27.525971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
MOTIVATION Predicting the regulatory function of non-coding DNA using only the DNA sequence continues to be a major challenge in genomics. With the advent of improved optimization algorithms, faster GPU speeds, and more intricate machine learning libraries, hybrid convolutional and recurrent neural network architectures can be constructed and applied to extract crucial information from non-coding DNA. RESULTS Using a comparative analysis of the performance of thousands of Deep Learning (DL) architectures, we developed ChromDL, a neural network architecture combining bidirectional gated recurrent units (BiGRU), convolutional neural networks (CNNs), and bidirectional long short-term memory units (BiLSTM), which significantly improves upon a range of prediction metrics compared to its predecessors in transcription factor binding site (TFBS), histone modification (HM), and DNase-I hypersensitive site (DHS) detection. Combined with a secondary model, it can be utilized for accurate classification of gene regulatory elements. The model can also detect weak transcription factor (TF) binding with higher accuracy as compared to previously developed methods and has the potential to accurately delineate TF binding motif specificities. AVAILABILITY The ChromDL source code can be found at https://github.com/chrishil1/ChromDL .
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Hill
- Computational Biology Branch, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
- School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Sanjarbek Hudaiberdiev
- Computational Biology Branch, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Ivan Ovcharenko
- Computational Biology Branch, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
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Boehm BO, Kratzer W, Bansal V. Whole-genome sequencing of multiple related individuals with type 2 diabetes reveals an atypical likely pathogenic mutation in the PAX6 gene. Eur J Hum Genet 2023; 31:89-96. [PMID: 36202929 PMCID: PMC9823100 DOI: 10.1038/s41431-022-01182-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Revised: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Pathogenic variants in more than 14 genes have been implicated in monogenic diabetes; however, a significant fraction of individuals with young-onset diabetes and a strong family history of diabetes have unknown genetic etiology. To identify novel pathogenic alleles for monogenic diabetes, we performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) on four related individuals with type 2 diabetes - including one individual diagnosed at the age of 31 years - that were negative for mutations in known monogenic diabetes genes. The individuals were ascertained from a large case-control study and had a multi-generation family history of diabetes. Identity-by-descent (IBD) analysis revealed that the four individuals represent two sib-pairs that are third-degree relatives. A novel missense mutation (p.P81S) in the PAX6 gene was one of eight rare coding variants across the genome shared IBD by all individuals and was inherited from affected mothers in both sib-pairs. The mutation affects a highly conserved amino acid located in the paired-domain of PAX6 - a hotspot for missense mutations that cause aniridia and other eye abnormalities. However, no eye-related phenotype was observed in any individual. The well-established functional role of PAX6 in glucose-induced insulin secretion and the co-segregation of diabetes in families with aniridia provide compelling support for the pathogenicity of this mutation for diabetes. The mutation could be classified as "likely pathogenic" with a posterior probability of 0.975 according to the ACMG/AMP guidelines. This is the first PAX6 missense mutation that is likely pathogenic for autosomal-dominant adult-onset diabetes without eye abnormalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernhard O. Boehm
- grid.59025.3b0000 0001 2224 0361Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Wolfgang Kratzer
- grid.6582.90000 0004 1936 9748Department of Internal Medicine I, Ulm University Medical Centre, Ulm, Germany
| | - Vikas Bansal
- grid.266100.30000 0001 2107 4242Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA USA
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6
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Talluri S. Algorithms for protein design. ADVANCES IN PROTEIN CHEMISTRY AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY 2022; 130:1-38. [PMID: 35534105 DOI: 10.1016/bs.apcsb.2022.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Computational Protein Design has the potential to contribute to major advances in enzyme technology, vaccine design, receptor-ligand engineering, biomaterials, nanosensors, and synthetic biology. Although Protein Design is a challenging problem, proteins can be designed by experts in Protein Design, as well as by non-experts whose primary interests are in the applications of Protein Design. The increased accessibility of Protein Design technology is attributable to the accumulated knowledge and experience with Protein Design as well as to the availability of software and online resources. The objective of this review is to serve as a guide to the relevant literature with a focus on the novel methods and algorithms that have been developed or applied for Protein Design, and to assist in the selection of algorithms for Protein Design. Novel algorithms and models that have been introduced to utilize the enormous amount of experimental data and novel computational hardware have the potential for producing substantial increases in the accuracy, reliability and range of applications of designed proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sekhar Talluri
- Department of Biotechnology, GITAM, Visakhapatnam, India.
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7
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Yang X, Li Y, Fang Y, Shi H, Xiang T, Liu J, Liu J, Tang X, Fang X, Chen J, Zhai Y, Shen Q, Bi Y, Qian Y, Wu B, Wang H, Zhou W, Ma D, Bai H, Mao J, Chen L, Wang X, Gao X, Zhang R, Zhuang J, Zhang A, Jiang X, Xu H, Rao J. Phenotypic spectrum and genetics of PAX2-related disorder in the Chinese cohort. BMC Med Genomics 2021; 14:250. [PMID: 34696790 PMCID: PMC8543950 DOI: 10.1186/s12920-021-01102-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Pathogenic variants of PAX2 cause autosomal-dominant PAX2-related disorder, which includes variable phenotypes ranging from renal coloboma syndrome (RCS), congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) to nephrosis. Phenotypic variability makes it difficult to define the phenotypic spectrum associated with genotype. Methods We collected the phenotypes in patients enrolled in the China national multicenter registry who were diagnosed with pathogenic variant in PAX2 and reviewed all published cases with PAX2-related disorders. We conducted a phenotype-based cluster analysis by variant types and molecular modeling of the structural impact of missense variants. Results Twenty different PAX2 pathogenic variants were identified in 32 individuals (27 families) with a diagnosis of RCS (9), CAKUT (11) and nephrosis (12) from the Chinese cohort. Individuals with abnormal kidney structure (RCS or CAKUT group) tended to have likely/presumed gene disruptive (LGD) variants (Fisher test, p < 0.05). A system review of 234 reported cases to date indicated a clear association of RCS to heterozygous loss-of-function PAX2 variants (LGD variants). Furthermore, we identified a subset of PAX2 missense variants in DNA-binding domain predicted to affect the protein structure or protein-DNA interaction associated with the phenotype of RCS. Conclusion Defining the phenotypic spectrum combined with genotype in PAX2-related disorder allows us to predict the pathogenic variants associated with renal and ophthalmological development. It highlighted the approach of structure-based analysis can be applied to diagnostic strategy aiding precise and timely diagnosis. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12920-021-01102-x.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue Yang
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - Yaqi Li
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - Ye Fang
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - Hua Shi
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - Tianchao Xiang
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - Jiaojiao Liu
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - Jialu Liu
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - Xiaoshan Tang
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - Xiaoyan Fang
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - Jing Chen
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - Yihui Zhai
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - Qian Shen
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China
| | - Yunli Bi
- Department of Urology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yanyan Qian
- Clinical Genetic Center, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Bingbing Wu
- Clinical Genetic Center, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Huijun Wang
- Clinical Genetic Center, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wenhao Zhou
- Clinical Genetic Center, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Duan Ma
- Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China.,Key Laboratory of Metabolism and Molecular Medicine, Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Haitao Bai
- The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Jianhua Mao
- The Children Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Lizhi Chen
- Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Xiaowen Wang
- Wuhan Children's Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Xiaojie Gao
- Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Shenzheng, China
| | | | - Jieqiu Zhuang
- The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Aihua Zhang
- Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiaoyun Jiang
- Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
| | - Hong Xu
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China. .,Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, Shanghai, China. .,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China.
| | - Jia Rao
- Department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Pediatric Medical Center of CHINA, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China. .,Shanghai Key Lab of Birth Defect, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 201102, China. .,State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and School of Basic Medical Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
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Woodard J, Zheng W, Zhang Y. Protein structural features predict responsiveness to pharmacological chaperone treatment for three lysosomal storage disorders. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1009370. [PMID: 34529671 PMCID: PMC8478239 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Revised: 09/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Three-dimensional structures of proteins can provide important clues into the efficacy of personalized treatment. We perform a structural analysis of variants within three inherited lysosomal storage disorders, comparing variants responsive to pharmacological chaperone treatment to those unresponsive to such treatment. We find that predicted ΔΔG of mutation is higher on average for variants unresponsive to treatment, in the case of datasets for both Fabry disease and Pompe disease, in line with previous findings. Using both a single decision tree and an advanced machine learning approach based on the larger Fabry dataset, we correctly predict responsiveness of three Gaucher disease variants, and we provide predictions for untested variants. Many variants are predicted to be responsive to treatment, suggesting that drug-based treatments may be effective for a number of variants in Gaucher disease. In our analysis, we observe dependence on a topological feature reporting on contact arrangements which is likely connected to the order of folding of protein residues, and we provide a potential justification for this observation based on steady-state cellular kinetics. Pharmacological chaperones are small molecule drugs that bind to proteins to help stabilize the folded state. One set of diseases for which this treatment has been effective is the lysosomal storage disorders, which are caused by defective lysosomal enzymes. However, not all genotypes are equally responsive to treatment. For instance, missense mutants that are particularly destabilized relative to WT are less likely to respond. The availability of datasets containing responsiveness data for large numbers of mutants, along with crystal structures of the protein involved in each disease, make machine learning methods incorporating sequence-based and structural data feasible. We hypothesize that data from two diseases, Fabry and Pompe disease, may be useful for predicting responsiveness of variants in the related Gaucher disease. Results suggest that many rare variants in Gaucher disease could be amenable to existing drugs. Results also suggest that drug responsiveness depends on protein topology in such a way that mutations in early-to-fold residues are more likely to be non-responsive to pharmacological chaperone treatment, which is consistent with a simple kinetic model of stability rescue. This study provides an example of how machine learning can be used to inform further studies towards personalized treatment in medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaie Woodard
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Wei Zheng
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Yang Zhang
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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9
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Lan HC, Du TH, Yao YL, Yang WM. Ocular disease-associated mutations diminish the mitotic chromosome retention ability of PAX6. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-GENE REGULATORY MECHANISMS 2021; 1864:194751. [PMID: 34500082 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagrm.2021.194751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Transcription factors play a key role in maintaining cell identity. One mechanism of such cell memory after multiple rounds of cell division cycles is through persistent mitotic chromosome binding, although how individual transcription factors achieve mitotic chromosome retention is not completely understood. Here we show that PAX6, a lineage-determining transcription factor, coats mitotic chromosomes. Using deletion and point mutants associated with human ocular diseases in live-cell imaging analysis, we identified two regions, MCR-D1 and MCR-D2, that were responsible for mitotic chromosome retention of PAX6. We also identified three nuclear localization signals (NLSs) that contributed to mitotic chromosome retention independent of their nuclear import functions. Full mitotic chromosome retention required the presence of DNA-binding domains as well as NLSs within MCR-Ds. Furthermore, disease-associated mutations and NLS mutations changed the distribution of intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) in PAX6. Our findings not only identify PAX6 as a novel mitotic chromosome retention factor but also demonstrate that the mechanism of mitotic chromosome retention involves sequence-specific DNA binding, NLSs, and molecular conformation determined by IDRs. These findings link mitotic chromosome retention with PAX6-related pathogenesis and imply similar mechanisms for other lineage-determining factors in the PAX family.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsin-Chi Lan
- Institute of Molecular Biology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan
| | - Ting-Huei Du
- Institute of Molecular Biology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan
| | - Ya-Li Yao
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan.
| | - Wen-Ming Yang
- Institute of Molecular Biology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan; Ph.D. Program in Translational Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan.
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10
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Landsend ECS, Lagali N, Utheim TP. Congenital aniridia - A comprehensive review of clinical features and therapeutic approaches. Surv Ophthalmol 2021; 66:1031-1050. [PMID: 33675823 DOI: 10.1016/j.survophthal.2021.02.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Revised: 02/16/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Congenital aniridia is a rare genetic eye disorder with total or partial absence of the iris from birth. In most cases the genetic origin of aniridia is a mutation in the PAX6 gene, leading to involvement of most eye structures. Hypoplasia of the fovea is usually present and is associated with reduced visual acuity and nystagmus. Aniridia-associated keratopathy, glaucoma, and cataract are serious and progressive complications that can further reduce visual function. Treatment of the ocular complications of aniridia is challenging and has a high risk of side effects. New approaches such as stem cell therapy may, however, offer better prognoses. We describe the various ocular manifestations of aniridia, with a special focus on conditions that commonly require treatment. We also review the growing literature reporting systemic manifestations of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Neil Lagali
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Tor P Utheim
- Department of Ophthalmology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Medical Biochemistry, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
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11
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Long P, Zhang L, Huang B, Chen Q, Liu H. Integrating genome sequence and structural data for statistical learning to predict transcription factor binding sites. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 48:12604-12617. [PMID: 33264415 PMCID: PMC7736823 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa1134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Revised: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
We report an approach to predict DNA specificity of the tetracycline repressor (TetR) family transcription regulators (TFRs). First, a genome sequence-based method was streamlined with quantitative P-values defined to filter out reliable predictions. Then, a framework was introduced to incorporate structural data and to train a statistical energy function to score the pairing between TFR and TFR binding site (TFBS) based on sequences. The predictions benchmarked against experiments, TFBSs for 29 out of 30 TFRs were correctly predicted by either the genome sequence-based or the statistical energy-based method. Using P-values or Z-scores as indicators, we estimate that 59.6% of TFRs are covered with relatively reliable predictions by at least one of the two methods, while only 28.7% are covered by the genome sequence-based method alone. Our approach predicts a large number of new TFBs which cannot be correctly retrieved from public databases such as FootprintDB. High-throughput experimental assays suggest that the statistical energy can model the TFBSs of a significant number of TFRs reliably. Thus the energy function may be applied to explore for new TFBSs in respective genomes. It is possible to extend our approach to other transcriptional factor families with sufficient structural information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengpeng Long
- School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
| | - Lu Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
| | - Bin Huang
- School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
| | - Quan Chen
- School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.,Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
| | - Haiyan Liu
- School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.,Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.,School of Data Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
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12
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Wadhwani M, Kumar M, Dada R. A descriptive presentation of a family showing various features of aniridia and its genetic analysis. KERALA JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.4103/kjo.kjo_78_20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
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13
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Gerasimavicius L, Liu X, Marsh JA. Identification of pathogenic missense mutations using protein stability predictors. Sci Rep 2020; 10:15387. [PMID: 32958805 PMCID: PMC7506547 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-72404-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Attempts at using protein structures to identify disease-causing mutations have been dominated by the idea that most pathogenic mutations are disruptive at a structural level. Therefore, computational stability predictors, which assess whether a mutation is likely to be stabilising or destabilising to protein structure, have been commonly used when evaluating new candidate disease variants, despite not having been developed specifically for this purpose. We therefore tested 13 different stability predictors for their ability to discriminate between pathogenic and putatively benign missense variants. We find that one method, FoldX, significantly outperforms all other predictors in the identification of disease variants. Moreover, we demonstrate that employing predicted absolute energy change scores improves performance of nearly all predictors in distinguishing pathogenic from benign variants. Importantly, however, we observe that the utility of computational stability predictors is highly heterogeneous across different proteins, and that they are all inferior to the best performing variant effect predictors for identifying pathogenic mutations. We suggest that this is largely due to alternate molecular mechanisms other than protein destabilisation underlying many pathogenic mutations. Thus, better ways of incorporating protein structural information and molecular mechanisms into computational variant effect predictors will be required for improved disease variant prioritisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas Gerasimavicius
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Xin Liu
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Joseph A Marsh
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK.
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14
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Delgado J, Radusky LG, Cianferoni D, Serrano L. FoldX 5.0: working with RNA, small molecules and a new graphical interface. Bioinformatics 2020; 35:4168-4169. [PMID: 30874800 PMCID: PMC6792092 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btz184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 160] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2018] [Revised: 01/29/2019] [Accepted: 03/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
SUMMARY A new version of FoldX, whose main new features allows running classic FoldX commands on structures containing RNA molecules and includes a module that allows parametrization of ligands or small molecules (ParamX) that were not previously recognized in old versions, has been released. An extended FoldX graphical user interface has also being developed (available as a python plugin for the YASARA molecular viewer) allowing user-friendly parametrization of new custom user molecules encoded using JSON format. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION http://foldxsuite.crg.eu/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Delgado
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Leandro G Radusky
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Damiano Cianferoni
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Luis Serrano
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain.,Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.,Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
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15
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Vasilyeva TA, Marakhonov AV, Voskresenskaya AA, Kadyshev VV, Käsmann-Kellner B, Sukhanova NV, Katargina LA, Kutsev SI, Zinchenko RA. Analysis of genotype-phenotype correlations in PAX6-associated aniridia. J Med Genet 2020; 58:270-274. [PMID: 32467297 DOI: 10.1136/jmedgenet-2019-106172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2019] [Revised: 04/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
BackgroundAniridia is a severe autosomal dominant panocular disorder associated with pathogenic sequence variants of the PAX6 gene or 11p13 chromosomal aberrations encompassing the coding and/or regulatory regions of the PAX6 gene in a heterozygous state. Patients with aniridia display several ocular anomalies including foveal hypoplasia, cataract, keratopathy, and glaucoma, which can vary in severity and combination.MethodsA cohort of 155 patients from 125 unrelated families with identified point PAX6 pathogenic variants (118 patients) or large chromosomal 11p13 deletions (37 patients) was analyzed. Genetic causes were divided into 6 types. The occurrence of 6 aniridic eye anomalies was analyzed. Fisher's exact test was applied for 2×2 contingency tables assigning numbers of patients with/without each sign and each type of the PAX6 variants or 11p13 deletions with Benjamini-Hochberg correction. The age of patients with different types of mutation did not differ.ResultsPatients with 3'-cis-regulatory region deletions had a milder aniridia phenotype without keratopathy, nystagmus, or foveal hypoplasia. The phenotypes of the patients with other rearrangements involving 11p13 do not significantly differ from those associated with point pathogenic variants in the PAX6 gene. Missense mutations and genetic variants disrupting splicing are associated with a severe aniridia phenotype and resemble loss-of-function mutations. It is particularly important that in all examined patients, PAX6 mutations were found to be associated with multiple eye malformations. The age of patients with keratopathy, cataract, and glaucoma was significantly higher than the age of patients without these signs.ConclusionWe got clear statistically significant genotype-phenotype correlations in congenital aniridia and evident that aniridia severity indeed had worsened with age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatyana A Vasilyeva
- Laboratory of Genetic Epidemiology, Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Andrey V Marakhonov
- Laboratory of Genetic Epidemiology, Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Anna A Voskresenskaya
- Cheboksary Branch of S. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Federal State Institution, Cheboksary, Russian Federation
| | - Vitaly V Kadyshev
- Laboratory of Genetic Epidemiology, Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Barbara Käsmann-Kellner
- Universitätsklinikum des Saarlandes und Medizinische Fakultät der Universität des Saarlandes, Homburg, Saarland, Germany
| | - Natella V Sukhanova
- Moscow Helmholtz Research Institute of Eye Diseases, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | | | - Sergey I Kutsev
- Laboratory of Genetic Epidemiology, Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Rena A Zinchenko
- Laboratory of Genetic Epidemiology, Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russian Federation
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16
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Williamson KA, Hall HN, Owen LJ, Livesey BJ, Hanson IM, Adams GGW, Bodek S, Calvas P, Castle B, Clarke M, Deng AT, Edery P, Fisher R, Gillessen-Kaesbach G, Heon E, Hurst J, Josifova D, Lorenz B, McKee S, Meire F, Moore AT, Parker M, Reiff CM, Self J, Tobias ES, Verheij JBGM, Willems M, Williams D, van Heyningen V, Marsh JA, FitzPatrick DR. Recurrent heterozygous PAX6 missense variants cause severe bilateral microphthalmia via predictable effects on DNA-protein interaction. Genet Med 2020; 22:598-609. [PMID: 31700164 PMCID: PMC7056646 DOI: 10.1038/s41436-019-0685-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2019] [Revised: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Most classical aniridia is caused by PAX6 haploinsufficiency. PAX6 missense variants can be hypomorphic or mimic haploinsufficiency. We hypothesized that missense variants also cause previously undescribed disease by altering the affinity and/or specificity of PAX6 genomic interactions. METHODS We screened PAX6 in 372 individuals with bilateral microphthalmia, anophthalmia, or coloboma (MAC) from the Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit eye malformation cohort (HGUeye) and reviewed data from the Deciphering Developmental Disorders study. We performed cluster analysis on PAX6-associated ocular phenotypes by variant type and molecular modeling of the structural impact of 86 different PAX6 causative missense variants. RESULTS Eight different PAX6 missense variants were identified in 17 individuals (15 families) with MAC, accounting for 4% (15/372) of our cohort. Seven altered the paired domain (p.[Arg26Gln]x1, p.[Gly36Val]x1, p.[Arg38Trp]x2, p.[Arg38Gln]x1, p.[Gly51Arg]x2, p.[Ser54Arg]x2, p.[Asn124Lys]x5) and one the homeodomain (p.[Asn260Tyr]x1). p.Ser54Arg and p.Asn124Lys were exclusively associated with severe bilateral microphthalmia. MAC-associated variants were predicted to alter but not ablate DNA interaction, consistent with the electrophoretic mobility shifts observed using mutant paired domains with well-characterized PAX6-binding sites. We found no strong evidence for novel PAX6-associated extraocular disease. CONCLUSION Altering the affinity and specificity of PAX6-binding genome-wide provides a plausible mechanism for the worse-than-null effects of MAC-associated missense variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen A Williamson
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - H Nikki Hall
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Liusaidh J Owen
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Benjamin J Livesey
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Isabel M Hanson
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | | | - Simon Bodek
- Department of Clinical Genetics, St Michael's Hospital, Southwell Street, Bristol, UK
| | - Patrick Calvas
- CHU Toulouse, Service de Génétique Médicale, Hôpital Purpan, Toulouse, France
| | - Bruce Castle
- Peninsula Clinical Genetics, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospitals (Heavitree), Exeter, UK
| | - Michael Clarke
- Newcastle Eye Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
| | - Alexander T Deng
- Clinical Genetics, Guys and St Thomas NHS Trust, Great Maze Pond, London, UK
| | - Patrick Edery
- Hospices Civils de Lyon, Genetic Department and National HHT Reference Center, Femme-Mère-Enfants Hospital, Bron, France
| | - Richard Fisher
- Teeside Genetics Unit, The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, UK
| | | | - Elise Heon
- Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jane Hurst
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK
| | - Dragana Josifova
- Clinical Genetics, Guys and St Thomas NHS Trust, Great Maze Pond, London, UK
| | - Birgit Lorenz
- Department of Ophthalmology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Shane McKee
- Northern Ireland Regional Genetics Service (NIRGS), Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, UK
| | - Francoise Meire
- Department of Ophthalmology, Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola, Brussels, Belgium
| | | | - Michael Parker
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
| | - Charlotte M Reiff
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Jay Self
- University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, UK
- Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Edward S Tobias
- Academic Medical Genetics and Pathology, University of Glasgow, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, UK
| | - Joke B G M Verheij
- Department of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Denise Williams
- Clinical Genetics Unit, Birmingham Women's Hospital, Birmingham, UK
| | - Veronica van Heyningen
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Joseph A Marsh
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - David R FitzPatrick
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
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17
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Nadra AD, Rodríguez PE, Grunberg R, Olalde LG, Sánchez IE. Developing synthetic biology in Argentina: the Latin American TECNOx community as an alternative way for growth of the field. Crit Rev Biotechnol 2020; 40:357-364. [PMID: 32075446 DOI: 10.1080/07388551.2020.1712322] [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] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Synthetic biology emerged in the USA and Europe twenty years ago and quickly developed innovative research and technology as a result of continued funding. Synthetic biology is also growing in many developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, where it could have a large economic impact by helping its use of genetic biodiversity in order to boost existing industries. Starting in 2011, Argentine synthetic biology developed along an idiosyncratic path. In 2011-2012, the main focus was not exclusively research but also on community building through teaching and participation in iGEM, following the template of the early "MIT school" of synthetic biology. In 2013-2015, activities diversified and included society-centered projects, social science studies on synthetic biology and bioart. Standard research outputs such as articles and industrial applications helped consolidate several academic working groups. Since 2016, the lack of a critical mass of researchers and a funding crisis were partially compensated by establishing links with Latin American synthetic biologists and with other socially oriented open technology collectives. The TECNOx community is a central node in this growing research and technology network. The first four annual TECNOx meetings brought together synthetic biologists with other open science and engineering platforms and explored the relationship of Latin American technologies with entrepreneurship, open hardware, ethics and human rights. In sum, the socioeconomic context encouraged Latin American synthetic biology to develop in a meandering and diversifying manner. This revealed alternative ways for growth of the field that may be relevant to other developing countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro D Nadra
- Departamento de Fisiología y Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN), Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional (iB3), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Pablo E Rodríguez
- Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto de Investigaciones "Gino Germani", Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Raik Grunberg
- Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE), Computational Bioscience Research Center (CBRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Laura G Olalde
- Protein Physiology Laboratory, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ignacio E Sánchez
- Protein Physiology Laboratory, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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18
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Filatova AY, Vasilyeva TA, Marakhonov AV, Voskresenskaya AA, Zinchenko RA, Skoblov MY. Functional reassessment of PAX6 single nucleotide variants by in vitro splicing assay. Eur J Hum Genet 2018; 27:488-493. [PMID: 30315214 DOI: 10.1038/s41431-018-0288-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2018] [Revised: 08/14/2018] [Accepted: 09/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Nucleotide variants that disrupt normal splicing might be the cause of a large number of diseases. Nevertheless, because of the complexity of splicing regulation, it is not always possible to accurately predict the effect of nucleotide sequence changes on splicing events and mRNA structure. Thereby, a number of newly identified nucleotide variants are falsely classified as VUS (a variant of uncertain significance). In the present study we used the minigene assay to analyze the functional consequences of six intronic (c.142-5T>G, c.142-14C>G, c.142-64A>C, c.141+4A>G, c.1032+ 6T>G, c.682+4delA), one missense (c.140A>G) and one synonymous (c.174C>T) variants in the PAX6 gene found in patients with congenital aniridia. We revealed that all except one (c.142-64A>C) variants lead to the disruption of normal splicing patterns resulting in premature termination codon formation followed by mRNA degradation through the nonsense mediated decay pathway. This produces a null allele of the PAX6 gene. That allowed us to reclassify the analyzed variants as loss-of-function and to establish their functional role.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Andrey V Marakhonov
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russian Federation.,Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Anna A Voskresenskaya
- Cheboksary branch of S. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Federal State Institution, Cheboksary, Russian Federation
| | - Rena A Zinchenko
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russian Federation.,Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Mikhail Yu Skoblov
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russian Federation.,Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Moscow, Russian Federation
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19
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PAX6 molecular analysis and genotype-phenotype correlations in families with aniridia from Australasia and Southeast Asia. Mol Vis 2018; 24:261-273. [PMID: 29618921 PMCID: PMC5873721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2018] [Accepted: 03/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Aniridia is a congenital disorder caused by variants in the PAX6 gene. In this study, we assessed the involvement of PAX6 in patients with aniridia from Australasia and Southeast Asia. METHODS Twenty-nine individuals with aniridia from 18 families originating from Australia, New Caledonia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan were included. The PAX6 gene was investigated for sequence variants and analyzed for deletions with multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification. RESULTS We identified 11 sequence variants and six chromosomal deletions, including one in mosaic. Four deleterious sequence variants were novel: p.(Pro81HisfsTer12), p.(Gln274Ter), p.(Ile29Thr), and p.(Met1?). Ocular complications were associated with a progressive loss of visual function as shown by a visual acuity ≤ 1.00 logMAR reported in 65% of eyes. The prevalence of keratopathy was statistically significantly higher in the Australasian cohort (78.6%) compared with the Southeast Asian cohort (9.1%, p=0.002). Variants resulting in protein truncating codons displayed limited genotype-phenotype correlations compared with other variants. CONCLUSIONS PAX6 variants and deletions were identified in 94% of patients with aniridia from Australasia and Southeast Asia. This study is the first report of aniridia and variations in PAX6 in individuals from Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and New Caledonia, and the largest cohort from Australia.
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20
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Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-Hydroxylase Deficiency: A Comprehensive Focus on 233 Pathogenic Variants of CYP21A2 Gene. Mol Diagn Ther 2018; 22:261-280. [DOI: 10.1007/s40291-018-0319-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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21
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Landsend ES, Utheim ØA, Pedersen HR, Lagali N, Baraas RC, Utheim TP. The genetics of congenital aniridia—a guide for the ophthalmologist. Surv Ophthalmol 2018; 63:105-113. [DOI: 10.1016/j.survophthal.2017.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2017] [Revised: 09/07/2017] [Accepted: 09/11/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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22
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Gapsys V, de Groot BL. Alchemical Free Energy Calculations for Nucleotide Mutations in Protein–DNA Complexes. J Chem Theory Comput 2017; 13:6275-6289. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Vytautas Gapsys
- Computational Biomolecular
Dynamics Group, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Bert L. de Groot
- Computational Biomolecular
Dynamics Group, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
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23
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Farrel A, Murphy J, Guo JT. Structure-based prediction of transcription factor binding specificity using an integrative energy function. Bioinformatics 2017; 32:i306-i313. [PMID: 27307632 PMCID: PMC4908348 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btw264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Transcription factors (TFs) regulate gene expression through binding to specific target DNA sites. Accurate annotation of transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) at genome scale represents an essential step toward our understanding of gene regulation networks. In this article, we present a structure-based method for computational prediction of TFBSs using a novel, integrative energy (IE) function. The new energy function combines a multibody (MB) knowledge-based potential and two atomic energy terms (hydrogen bond and π interaction) that might not be accurately captured by the knowledge-based potential owing to the mean force nature and low count problem. We applied the new energy function to the TFBS prediction using a non-redundant dataset that consists of TFs from 12 different families. Our results show that the new IE function improves the prediction accuracy over the knowledge-based, statistical potentials, especially for homeodomain TFs, the second largest TF family in mammals. CONTACT jguo4@uncc.edu SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alvin Farrel
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
| | - Jonathan Murphy
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
| | - Jun-Tao Guo
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
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24
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Liu F, Qin Y, Yu S, Soares DC, Yang L, Weng J, Li C, Gao M, Lu Z, Hu X, Liu X, Jiang T, Liu JY, Shu X, Tang Z, Liu M. Pathogenic mutations in retinitis pigmentosa 2 predominantly result in loss of RP2 protein stability in humans and zebrafish. J Biol Chem 2017; 292:6225-6239. [PMID: 28209709 PMCID: PMC5391753 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m116.760314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2016] [Revised: 02/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutations in retinitis pigmentosa 2 (RP2) account for 10-20% of X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (RP) cases. The encoded RP2 protein is implicated in ciliary trafficking of myristoylated and prenylated proteins in photoreceptor cells. To date >70 mutations in RP2 have been identified. How these mutations disrupt the function of RP2 is not fully understood. Here we report a novel in-frame 12-bp deletion (c.357_368del, p.Pro120_Gly123del) in zebrafish rp2 The mutant zebrafish shows reduced rod phototransduction proteins and progressive retinal degeneration. Interestingly, the protein level of mutant Rp2 is almost undetectable, whereas its mRNA level is near normal, indicating a possible post-translational effect of the mutation. Consistent with this hypothesis, the equivalent 12-bp deletion in human RP2 markedly impairs RP2 protein stability and reduces its protein level. Furthermore, we found that a majority of the RP2 pathogenic mutations (including missense, single-residue deletion, and C-terminal truncation mutations) severely destabilize the RP2 protein. The destabilized RP2 mutant proteins are degraded via the proteasome pathway, resulting in dramatically decreased protein levels. The remaining non-destabilizing mutations T87I, R118H/R118G/R118L/R118C, E138G, and R211H/R211L are suggested to impair the interaction between RP2 and its protein partners (such as ARL3) or with as yet unknown partners. By utilizing a combination of in silico, in vitro, and in vivo approaches, our work comprehensively indicates that loss of RP2 protein structural stability is the predominating pathogenic consequence for most RP2 mutations. Our study also reveals a role of the C-terminal domain of RP2 in maintaining the overall protein stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Liu
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Yayun Qin
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Shanshan Yu
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Dinesh C Soares
- MRC Human Genetics Unit/Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, United Kingdom, and
| | - Lifang Yang
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Jun Weng
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Chang Li
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Meng Gao
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Zhaojing Lu
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Xuebin Hu
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Xiliang Liu
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Tao Jiang
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Jing Yu Liu
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Xinhua Shu
- Department of Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow G4 0BA, United Kingdom
| | - Zhaohui Tang
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Mugen Liu
- From the Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China,
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25
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Bruque CD, Delea M, Fernández CS, Orza JV, Taboas M, Buzzalino N, Espeche LD, Solari A, Luccerini V, Alba L, Nadra AD, Dain L. Structure-based activity prediction of CYP21A2 stability variants: A survey of available gene variations. Sci Rep 2016; 6:39082. [PMID: 27966633 PMCID: PMC5155424 DOI: 10.1038/srep39082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2016] [Accepted: 11/16/2016] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency accounts for 90-95% of CAH cases. In this work we performed an extensive survey of mutations and SNPs modifying the coding sequence of the CYP21A2 gene. Using bioinformatic tools and two plausible CYP21A2 structures as templates, we initially classified all known mutants (n = 343) according to their putative functional impacts, which were either reported in the literature or inferred from structural models. We then performed a detailed analysis on the subset of mutations believed to exclusively impact protein stability. For those mutants, the predicted stability was calculated and correlated with the variant's expected activity. A high concordance was obtained when comparing our predictions with available in vitro residual activities and/or the patient's phenotype. The predicted stability and derived activity of all reported mutations and SNPs lacking functional assays (n = 108) were assessed. As expected, most of the SNPs (52/76) showed no biological implications. Moreover, this approach was applied to evaluate the putative synergy that could emerge when two mutations occurred in cis. In addition, we propose a putative pathogenic effect of five novel mutations, p.L107Q, p.L122R, p.R132H, p.P335L and p.H466fs, found in 21-hydroxylase deficient patients of our cohort.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos D Bruque
- Centro Nacional de Genética Médica, ANLIS, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Marisol Delea
- Centro Nacional de Genética Médica, ANLIS, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | | | - Juan V Orza
- Centro Nacional de Genética Médica, ANLIS, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Melisa Taboas
- Centro Nacional de Genética Médica, ANLIS, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Noemí Buzzalino
- Centro Nacional de Genética Médica, ANLIS, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Lucía D Espeche
- Centro Nacional de Genética Médica, ANLIS, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Andrea Solari
- Centro Nacional de Genética Médica, ANLIS, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | | | - Liliana Alba
- Centro Nacional de Genética Médica, ANLIS, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Alejandro D Nadra
- Departamento de Química Biológica Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, IQUIBICEN-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Liliana Dain
- Centro Nacional de Genética Médica, ANLIS, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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26
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Kiel C, Benisty H, Lloréns-Rico V, Serrano L. The yin-yang of kinase activation and unfolding explains the peculiarity of Val600 in the activation segment of BRAF. eLife 2016; 5:e12814. [PMID: 26744778 PMCID: PMC4749552 DOI: 10.7554/elife.12814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2015] [Accepted: 01/07/2016] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Many driver mutations in cancer are specific in that they occur at significantly higher rates than – presumably – functionally alternative mutations. For example, V600E in the BRAF hydrophobic activation segment (AS) pocket accounts for >95% of all kinase mutations. While many hypotheses tried to explain such significant mutation patterns, conclusive explanations are lacking. Here, we use experimental and in silico structure-energy statistical analyses, to elucidate why the V600E mutation, but no other mutation at this, or any other positions in BRAF’s hydrophobic pocket, is predominant. We find that BRAF mutation frequencies depend on the equilibrium between the destabilization of the hydrophobic pocket, the overall folding energy, the activation of the kinase and the number of bases required to change the corresponding amino acid. Using a random forest classifier, we quantitatively dissected the parameters contributing to BRAF AS cancer frequencies. These findings can be applied to genome-wide association studies and prediction models. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12814.001 Mutations in the gene that encodes a protein called BRAF are commonly found in certain cancers, such as melanomas. The same BRAF mutation is found in nearly all of these cancers. This mutation causes the 600th amino acid in the BRAF protein – an amino acid called a valine – to be replaced with another amino acid, a glutamate. BRAF is a type of enzyme called a kinase, and it transmits signals inside cells to promote cell growth. Kinases work by adding a phosphate group to other proteins to alter their activity. The structure of the BRAF kinase contains a pocket-like shape, and the valine at position 600 sits buried inside this pocket when the enzyme is inactive. The “valine-to-glutamate” mutation (often called V600E for short) disrupts the interactions that create this pocket. This in turn results in a permanently active form of BRAF and uncontrolled cell growth. However, it remains unclear why the valine-to-glutamate mutation is so much more common in cancer cells than any other mutation that could affect the pocket in BRAF. To address this question, Kiel et al. used a computational tool to generate three-dimensional models for all the different amino acid substitutions that could occur in BRAF’s pocket. Each mutation was then assessed to see how it might destabilize the structure of BRAF. Only the mutations that affected the 600th amino acid were predicted to be able to open the pocket without destabilizing the part of the enzyme that adds phosphate groups to other proteins. Kiel et al. validated their computational predictions by introducing normal or mutant versions of the BRAF-encoding gene into human cells grown in the laboratory. These experiments showed that a mutation that introduced an amino acid called histidine into position 600 could activate BRAF as much the valine-to-glutamate mutation. Kiel et al. suggest that this “valine-to-histidine” substitution is not found in cancers because it requires three changes to the DNA sequence of the BRAF gene, whereas the valine-to-glutamate substitution only requires one. The results underscore the importance of considering changes at both the DNA and protein level when attempting to understand why certain cancer-causing mutations are more common than others. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12814.002
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Kiel
- EMBL/CRG Systems Biology Research Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain.,Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.,Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Hannah Benisty
- EMBL/CRG Systems Biology Research Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain.,Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.,Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Veronica Lloréns-Rico
- EMBL/CRG Systems Biology Research Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain.,Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.,Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Luis Serrano
- EMBL/CRG Systems Biology Research Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain.,Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.,Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain.,Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain
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27
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Pujato M, Kieken F, Skiles AA, Tapinos N, Fiser A. Prediction of DNA binding motifs from 3D models of transcription factors; identifying TLX3 regulated genes. Nucleic Acids Res 2014; 42:13500-12. [PMID: 25428367 PMCID: PMC4267649 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gku1228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Proper cell functioning depends on the precise spatio-temporal expression of its genetic material. Gene expression is controlled to a great extent by sequence-specific transcription factors (TFs). Our current knowledge on where and how TFs bind and associate to regulate gene expression is incomplete. A structure-based computational algorithm (TF2DNA) is developed to identify binding specificities of TFs. The method constructs homology models of TFs bound to DNA and assesses the relative binding affinity for all possible DNA sequences using a knowledge-based potential, after optimization in a molecular mechanics force field. TF2DNA predictions were benchmarked against experimentally determined binding motifs. Success rates range from 45% to 81% and primarily depend on the sequence identity of aligned target sequences and template structures, TF2DNA was used to predict 1321 motifs for 1825 putative human TF proteins, facilitating the reconstruction of most of the human gene regulatory network. As an illustration, the predicted DNA binding site for the poorly characterized T-cell leukemia homeobox 3 (TLX3) TF was confirmed with gel shift assay experiments. TLX3 motif searches in human promoter regions identified a group of genes enriched in functions relating to hematopoiesis, tissue morphology, endocrine system and connective tissue development and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Pujato
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, NY 10461, USA Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Fabien Kieken
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, NY 10461, USA Macromolecular Therapeutics Development, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Amanda A Skiles
- Molecular Neuroscience Laboratory, Geisinger Clinic, 100 North Academy Avenue, Danville, PA 17822, USA
| | - Nikos Tapinos
- Molecular Neuroscience Laboratory, Geisinger Clinic, 100 North Academy Avenue, Danville, PA 17822, USA
| | - Andras Fiser
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, NY 10461, USA Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, NY 10461, USA
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28
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Joyce AP, Zhang C, Bradley P, Havranek JJ. Structure-based modeling of protein: DNA specificity. Brief Funct Genomics 2014; 14:39-49. [PMID: 25414269 DOI: 10.1093/bfgp/elu044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein:DNA interactions are essential to a range of processes that maintain and express the information encoded in the genome. Structural modeling is an approach that aims to understand these interactions at the physicochemical level. It has been proposed that structural modeling can lead to deeper understanding of the mechanisms of protein:DNA interactions, and that progress in this field can not only help to rationalize the observed specificities of DNA-binding proteins but also to allow researchers to engineer novel DNA site specificities. In this review we discuss recent developments in the structural description of protein:DNA interactions and specificity, as well as the challenges facing the field in the future.
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29
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Hume MA, Barrera LA, Gisselbrecht SS, Bulyk ML. UniPROBE, update 2015: new tools and content for the online database of protein-binding microarray data on protein-DNA interactions. Nucleic Acids Res 2014; 43:D117-22. [PMID: 25378322 PMCID: PMC4383892 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gku1045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 202] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The Universal PBM Resource for Oligonucleotide Binding Evaluation (UniPROBE) serves as a convenient source of information on published data generated using universal protein-binding microarray (PBM) technology, which provides in vitro data about the relative DNA-binding preferences of transcription factors for all possible sequence variants of a length k (‘k-mers’). The database displays important information about the proteins and displays their DNA-binding specificity data in terms of k-mers, position weight matrices and graphical sequence logos. This update to the database documents the growth of UniPROBE since the last update 4 years ago, and introduces a variety of new features and tools, including a new streamlined pipeline that facilitates data deposition by universal PBM data generators in the research community, a tool that generates putative nonbinding (i.e. negative control) DNA sequences for one or more proteins and novel motifs obtained by analyzing the PBM data using the BEEML-PBM algorithm for motif inference. The UniPROBE database is available at http://uniprobe.org.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxwell A Hume
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Bioinformatics Graduate Program, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Luis A Barrera
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Committee on Higher Degrees in Biophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics Graduate Program, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Stephen S Gisselbrecht
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Martha L Bulyk
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Committee on Higher Degrees in Biophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics Graduate Program, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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30
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Torella R, Li J, Kinrade E, Cerda-Moya G, Contreras AN, Foy R, Stojnic R, Glen RC, Kovall RA, Adryan B, Bray SJ. A combination of computational and experimental approaches identifies DNA sequence constraints associated with target site binding specificity of the transcription factor CSL. Nucleic Acids Res 2014; 42:10550-63. [PMID: 25114055 PMCID: PMC4176381 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gku730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2014] [Revised: 07/29/2014] [Accepted: 07/29/2014] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Regulation of transcription is fundamental to development and physiology, and occurs through binding of transcription factors to specific DNA sequences in the genome. CSL (CBF1/Suppressor of Hairless/LAG-1), a core component of the Notch signaling pathway, is one such transcription factor that acts in concert with co-activators or co-repressors to control the activity of associated target genes. One fundamental question is how CSL can recognize and select among different DNA sequences available in vivo and whether variations between selected sequences can influence its function. We have therefore investigated CSL-DNA recognition using computational approaches to analyze the energetics of CSL bound to different DNAs and tested the in silico predictions with in vitro and in vivo assays. Our results reveal novel aspects of CSL binding that may help explain the range of binding observed in vivo. In addition, using molecular dynamics simulations, we show that domain-domain correlations within CSL differ significantly depending on the DNA sequence bound, suggesting that different DNA sequences may directly influence CSL function. Taken together, our results, based on computational chemistry approaches, provide valuable insights into transcription factor-DNA binding, in this particular case increasing our understanding of CSL-DNA interactions and how these may impact on its transcriptional control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rubben Torella
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Jinghua Li
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Eddie Kinrade
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Gustavo Cerda-Moya
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ashley N Contreras
- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 231 Albert Sabin Way CARE4836, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0524, USA
| | - Robert Foy
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Robert Stojnic
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Robert C Glen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Rhett A Kovall
- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 231 Albert Sabin Way CARE4836, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0524, USA
| | - Boris Adryan
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sarah J Bray
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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31
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Kiel C, Serrano L. Structure-energy-based predictions and network modelling of RASopathy and cancer missense mutations. Mol Syst Biol 2014; 10:727. [PMID: 24803665 PMCID: PMC4188041 DOI: 10.1002/msb.20145092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The Ras/MAPK syndromes ('RASopathies') are a class of developmental disorders caused by germline mutations in 15 genes encoding proteins of the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway frequently involved in cancer. Little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the differences in mutations of the same protein causing either cancer or RASopathies. Here, we shed light on 956 RASopathy and cancer missense mutations by combining protein network data with mutational analyses based on 3D structures. Using the protein design algorithm FoldX, we predict that most of the missense mutations with destabilising energies are in structural regions that control the activation of proteins, and only a few are predicted to compromise protein folding. We find a trend that energy changes are higher for cancer compared to RASopathy mutations. Through network modelling, we show that partly compensatory mutations in RASopathies result in only minor downstream pathway deregulation. In summary, we suggest that quantitative rather than qualitative network differences determine the phenotypic outcome of RASopathy compared to cancer mutations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Kiel
- EMBL/CRG Systems Biology Research Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona, Spain
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32
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Xie Q, Ung D, Khafizov K, Fiser A, Cvekl A. Gene regulation by PAX6: structural-functional correlations of missense mutants and transcriptional control of Trpm3/miR-204. Mol Vis 2014; 20:270-82. [PMID: 24623969 PMCID: PMC3945805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2013] [Accepted: 03/03/2014] [Indexed: 11/02/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Pax6 is a key regulatory gene for eye, brain, and pancreas development. It acts as a transcriptional activator and repressor. Loss-of-function of Pax6 results in down- and upregulation of a comparable number of genes, although many are secondary targets. Recently, we found a prototype of a Pax6-binding site that acts as a transcriptional repressor. We also identified the Trpm3 gene as a Pax6-direct target containing the miR-204 gene located in intron 6. Thus, there are multiple Pax6-dependent mechanisms of transcriptional repression in the cell. More than 50 Pax6 missense mutations have been identified in humans and mice. Two of these mutations, N50K (Leca4) and R128C (Leca2), were analyzed in depth resulting in different numbers of regulated genes and different ratios of down- and upregulated targets. Thus, additional studies of these mutants are warranted to better understand the molecular mechanisms of the mutants' action. METHODS Mutations in PAX6 and PAX6(5a), including G18W, R26G, N50K, G64V, R128C, and R242T, were generated with site-directed mutagenesis. A panel of ten luciferase reporters driven by six copies of Pax6-binding sites representing a spectrum of sites that act as repressors, moderate activators, and strong activators were used. Two additional reporters, including the Pax6-regulated enhancer from mouse Trpm3 and six copies of its individual Pax6-binding site, were also tested in P19 cells. RESULTS PAX6 (N50K) acted either as a loss-of-function or neutral mutation. In contrast, PAX6 (R128C) and (R242T) acted as loss-, neutral, and gain-of-function mutations. With three distinct reporters, the PAX6 (N50K) mutation broke the pattern of effects produced by substitutions in the surrounding helices of the N-terminal region of the paired domain. All six mutations tested acted as loss-of-function using the Trpm3 Pax6-binding site. CONCLUSIONS These studies highlight the complexity of Pax6-dependent transcriptional activation and repression mechanisms, and identify the N50K and R128C substitutions as valuable tools for testing interactions between Pax6, Pax6 (N50K), and Pax6 (R128C) with other regulatory proteins, including chromatin remodelers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing Xie
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
| | - Devina Ung
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
| | - Kamil Khafizov
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY,Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
| | - Andras Fiser
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY,Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
| | - Ales Cvekl
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY,Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
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33
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McKeone R, Wikstrom M, Kiel C, Rakoczy PE. Assessing the correlation between mutant rhodopsin stability and the severity of retinitis pigmentosa. Mol Vis 2014; 20:183-99. [PMID: 24520188 PMCID: PMC3919671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2013] [Accepted: 02/05/2014] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Following a previous study that demonstrated a correlation between rhodopsin stability and the severity of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), we investigated whether predictions of severity can be improved with a regional analysis of this correlation. The association between changes to the stability of the protein and the relative amount of rhodopsin reaching the plasma membrane was assessed. METHODS Crystallography-based estimations of mutant rhodopsin stability were compared with descriptions in the scientific literature of the visual function of mutation carriers to determine the extent of associations between rhodopsin stability and clinical phenotype. To test the findings of this analysis, three residues of a green fluorescent protein (GFP) tagged rhodopsin plasmid were targeted with site-directed random mutagenesis to generate mutant variants with a range of stability changes. These plasmids were transfected into HEK-293 cells, and then flow cytometry was used to measure rhodopsin on the cells' plasma membrane. The GFP signal was used to measure the ratio between this membrane-bound rhodopsin and total cellular rhodopsin. FoldX stability predictions were then compared with the surface staining data and clinical data from the database to characterize the relationship between rhodopsin stability, the severity of RP, and the expression of rhodopsin at the cell surface. RESULTS There was a strong linear correlation between the scale of the destabilization of mutant variants and the severity of retinal disease. A correlation was also seen in vitro between stability and the amount of rhodopsin at the plasma membrane. Rhodopsin is drastically reduced on the surface of cells transfected with variants that differ in their inherent stability from the wild-type by more than 2 kcal/mol. Below this threshold, surface levels are closer to those of the wild-type. CONCLUSIONS There is a correlation between the stability of rhodopsin mutations and disease severity and levels of membrane-bound rhodopsin. Measuring membrane-bound rhodopsin with flow cytometry could improve prognoses for poorly characterized mutations and could provide a platform for measuring the effectiveness of treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard McKeone
- Department of Molecular Ophthalmology, Lions Eye Institute, Perth, Western Australia,Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia
| | - Matthew Wikstrom
- Centre for Experimental Immunology, Lions Eye Institute, Perth, Western Australia,Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia
| | - Christina Kiel
- EMBL/CRG Systems Biology Research Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain,Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - P. Elizabeth Rakoczy
- Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia
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34
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Walcher T, Xie Q, Sun J, Irmler M, Beckers J, Öztürk T, Niessing D, Stoykova A, Cvekl A, Ninkovic J, Götz M. Functional dissection of the paired domain of Pax6 reveals molecular mechanisms of coordinating neurogenesis and proliferation. Development 2013; 140:1123-36. [PMID: 23404109 DOI: 10.1242/dev.082875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
To achieve adequate organ development and size, cell proliferation and differentiation have to be tightly regulated and coordinated. The transcription factor Pax6 regulates patterning, neurogenesis and proliferation in forebrain development. The molecular basis of this regulation is not well understood. As the bipartite DNA-binding paired domain of Pax6 regulates forebrain development, we examined mice with point mutations in its individual DNA-binding subdomains PAI (Pax6(Leca4), N50K) and RED (Pax6(Leca2), R128C). This revealed distinct roles in regulating proliferation in the developing cerebral cortex, with the PAI and RED subdomain mutations reducing and increasing, respectively, the number of mitoses. Conversely, neurogenesis was affected only by the PAI subdomain mutation, phenocopying the neurogenic defects observed in full Pax6 mutants. Genome-wide expression profiling identified molecularly discrete signatures of Pax6(Leca4) and Pax6(Leca2) mutations. Comparison to Pax6 targets identified by chromatin immunoprecipitation led to the identification and functional characterization of distinct DNA motifs in the promoters of target genes dysregulated in the Pax6(Leca2) or Pax6(Leca4) mutants, further supporting the distinct regulatory functions of the DNA-binding subdomains. Thus, Pax6 achieves its key roles in the developing forebrain by utilizing particular subdomains to coordinate patterning, neurogenesis and proliferation simultaneously.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tessa Walcher
- Institute of Stem Cell Research, Helmholtz Center Munich, 85764 Neuherberg-Munich, Germany
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Sarkar AK, Lahiri A. Specificity determinants for the abscisic acid response element. FEBS Open Bio 2013; 3:101-5. [PMID: 23772380 PMCID: PMC3668542 DOI: 10.1016/j.fob.2013.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2012] [Revised: 01/11/2013] [Accepted: 01/17/2013] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Abscisic acid (ABA) response elements (ABREs) are a group of cis-acting DNA elements that have been identified from promoter analysis of many ABA-regulated genes in plants. We are interested in understanding the mechanism of binding specificity between ABREs and a class of bZIP transcription factors known as ABRE binding factors (ABFs). In this work, we have modeled the homodimeric structure of the bZIP domain of ABRE binding factor 1 from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtABF1) and studied its interaction with ACGT core motif-containing ABRE sequences. We have also examined the variation in the stability of the protein–DNA complex upon mutating ABRE sequences using the protein design algorithm FoldX. The high throughput free energy calculations successfully predicted the ability of ABF1 to bind to alternative core motifs like GCGT or AAGT and also rationalized the role of the flanking sequences in determining the specificity of the protein-DNA interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ansuman Lahiri
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 33 2350 8386/6387/6396; fax: +91 33 2351 9755.
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36
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Zabet NR, Adryan B. Computational models for large-scale simulations of facilitated diffusion. MOLECULAR BIOSYSTEMS 2012; 8:2815-27. [PMID: 22892851 PMCID: PMC4007627 DOI: 10.1039/c2mb25201e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The binding of site-specific transcription factors to their genomic target sites is a key step in gene regulation. While the genome is huge, transcription factors belong to the least abundant protein classes in the cell. It is therefore fascinating how short the time frame is that they require to home in on their target sites. The underlying search mechanism is called facilitated diffusion and assumes a combination of three-dimensional diffusion in the space around the DNA combined with one-dimensional random walk on it. In this review, we present the current understanding of the facilitated diffusion mechanism and identify questions that lack a clear or detailed answer. One way to investigate these questions is through stochastic simulation and, in this manuscript, we support the idea that such simulations are able to address them. Finally, we review which biological parameters need to be included in such computational models in order to obtain a detailed representation of the actual process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolae Radu Zabet
- Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QR, UK
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EH, UK
| | - Boris Adryan
- Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QR, UK
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EH, UK
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Liu LA, Bradley P. Atomistic modeling of protein-DNA interaction specificity: progress and applications. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2012; 22:397-405. [PMID: 22796087 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2012.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2012] [Accepted: 06/20/2012] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
An accurate, predictive understanding of protein-DNA binding specificity is crucial for the successful design and engineering of novel protein-DNA binding complexes. In this review, we summarize recent studies that use atomistic representations of interfaces to predict protein-DNA binding specificity computationally. Although methods with limited structural flexibility have proven successful at recapitulating consensus binding sequences from wild-type complex structures, conformational flexibility is likely important for design and template-based modeling, where non-native conformations need to be sampled and accurately scored. A successful application of such computational modeling techniques in the construction of the TAL-DNA complex structure is discussed. With continued improvements in energy functions, solvation models, and conformational sampling, we are optimistic that reliable and large-scale protein-DNA binding prediction and engineering is a goal within reach.
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Abstract
Aniridia is a rare congenital disorder in which there is a variable degree of hypoplasia or the absence of iris tissue associated with multiple other ocular changes, some present from birth and some arising progressively over time. Most cases are associated with dominantly inherited mutations or deletions of the PAX6 gene. This article will review the clinical manifestations, the molecular basis including genotype-phenotype correlations, diagnostic approaches and management of aniridia.
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Bergman JEH, Janssen N, van der Sloot AM, de Walle HEK, Schoots J, Rendtorff ND, Tranebjaerg L, Hoefsloot LH, van Ravenswaaij-Arts CMA, Hofstra RMW. A novel classification system to predict the pathogenic effects of CHD7 missense variants in CHARGE syndrome. Hum Mutat 2012; 33:1251-60. [PMID: 22539353 DOI: 10.1002/humu.22106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2011] [Accepted: 04/10/2012] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
CHARGE syndrome is characterized by the variable occurrence of multisensory impairment, congenital anomalies, and developmental delay, and is caused by heterozygous mutations in the CHD7 gene. Correct interpretation of CHD7 variants is essential for genetic counseling. This is particularly difficult for missense variants because most variants in the CHD7 gene are private and a functional assay is not yet available. We have therefore developed a novel classification system to predict the pathogenic effects of CHD7 missense variants that can be used in a diagnostic setting. Our classification system combines the results from two computational algorithms (PolyPhen-2 and Align-GVGD) and the prediction of a newly developed structural model of the chromo- and helicase domains of CHD7 with segregation and phenotypic data. The combination of different variables will lead to a more confident prediction of pathogenicity than was previously possible. We have used our system to classify 145 CHD7 missense variants. Our data show that pathogenic missense mutations are mainly present in the middle of the CHD7 gene, whereas benign variants are mainly clustered in the 5' and 3' regions. Finally, we show that CHD7 missense mutations are, in general, associated with a milder phenotype than truncating mutations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorieke E H Bergman
- Department of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
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Shukla S, Mishra R. Predictions on impact of missense mutations on structure function relationship of PAX6 and its alternatively spliced isoform PAX6(5a). Interdiscip Sci 2012; 4:54-73. [PMID: 22392277 DOI: 10.1007/s12539-012-0114-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2010] [Revised: 04/11/2011] [Accepted: 05/17/2011] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
The PAX6 contains two DNA-binding domains, paired domain (PD), homeodomain (HD), and a transactivation domain (TD). Only the crystal structure of PD and the solution structure of HD of PAX6 are known. Mutations in PAX6 show variable penetrance, and expressivity of ocular and neural diseases, but the mechanism is poorly understood. Its alternatively spliced isoform PAX6(5a), is also required in a specific ratio for optimal functions. To understand impact of missense mutations on stability, and conformation of PAX6, whose functional analyses are described in PAX6 allelic variant database, were considered. Representative mutations like PAX6-L46R, -C52R, -V126D, -R128C, -R242T, -P375Q, -Q422R, -V256E, and -S259P from PD, HD, and TD of PAX6 were explored. The secondary structures were analyzed through PSIPRED, and relative solvent accessibilities (RSA) of the mutant and the wild type amino acid residues were compared through SABLE. The change in the contact residues and calculations of energy level were studied through SVMcon, MUpro, and FoldX, respectively. The 3D modeling was performed with the help of MODELLER and models were visualized in Chimera. Predictions suggest mutation induced alterations in local conformation or misfolding in DNA-binding domains of PAX6 and PAX6(5a). The predicted impact of mutations via secondary structure, changes in free energy, stability, conformation, and experimental reports on DNA-binding and transactivation, necessarily provides a strong background to explain structure-function relationship of PAX6 and PAX6(5a). However, because of their predictive nature, these findings need to be validated with other experimental evidences when structure of full length PAX6 is available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sachin Shukla
- Department of Zoology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India
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Gordân R, Murphy KF, McCord RP, Zhu C, Vedenko A, Bulyk ML. Curated collection of yeast transcription factor DNA binding specificity data reveals novel structural and gene regulatory insights. Genome Biol 2011; 12:R125. [PMID: 22189060 PMCID: PMC3334620 DOI: 10.1186/gb-2011-12-12-r125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2011] [Revised: 12/09/2011] [Accepted: 12/21/2011] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Transcription factors (TFs) play a central role in regulating gene expression by interacting with cis-regulatory DNA elements associated with their target genes. Recent surveys have examined the DNA binding specificities of most Saccharomyces cerevisiae TFs, but a comprehensive evaluation of their data has been lacking. Results We analyzed in vitro and in vivo TF-DNA binding data reported in previous large-scale studies to generate a comprehensive, curated resource of DNA binding specificity data for all characterized S. cerevisiae TFs. Our collection comprises DNA binding site motifs and comprehensive in vitro DNA binding specificity data for all possible 8-bp sequences. Investigation of the DNA binding specificities within the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) and VHT1 regulator (VHR) TF families revealed unexpected plasticity in TF-DNA recognition: intriguingly, the VHR TFs, newly characterized by protein binding microarrays in this study, recognize bZIP-like DNA motifs, while the bZIP TF Hac1 recognizes a motif highly similar to the canonical E-box motif of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) TFs. We identified several TFs with distinct primary and secondary motifs, which might be associated with different regulatory functions. Finally, integrated analysis of in vivo TF binding data with protein binding microarray data lends further support for indirect DNA binding in vivo by sequence-specific TFs. Conclusions The comprehensive data in this curated collection allow for more accurate analyses of regulatory TF-DNA interactions, in-depth structural studies of TF-DNA specificity determinants, and future experimental investigations of the TFs' predicted target genes and regulatory roles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raluca Gordân
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Seeliger D, Buelens FP, Goette M, de Groot BL, Grubmüller H. Towards computational specificity screening of DNA-binding proteins. Nucleic Acids Res 2011; 39:8281-90. [PMID: 21737424 PMCID: PMC3201868 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkr531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
DNA-binding proteins are key players in the regulation of gene expression and, hence, are essential for cell function. Chimeric proteins composed of DNA-binding domains and DNA modifying domains allow for precise genome manipulation. A key prerequisite is the specific recognition of a particular nucleotide sequence. Here, we quantitatively assess the binding affinity of DNA-binding proteins by molecular dynamics-based alchemical free energy simulations. A computational framework was developed to automatically set up in silico screening assays and estimate free energy differences using two independent procedures, based on equilibrium and non-equlibrium transformation pathways. The influence of simulation times on the accuracy of both procedures is presented. The binding specificity of a zinc-finger transcription factor to several sequences is calculated, and agreement with experimental data is shown. Finally we propose an in silico screening strategy aiming at the derivation of full specificity profiles for DNA-binding proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Seeliger
- Computational Biomolecular Dynamics Group, Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
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Impact of the 237th residue on the folding of human carbonic anhydrase II. Int J Mol Sci 2011; 12:2797-807. [PMID: 21686151 PMCID: PMC3116157 DOI: 10.3390/ijms12052797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2011] [Revised: 04/07/2011] [Accepted: 04/12/2011] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The deficiency of human carbonic anhydrase II (HCAII) has been recognized to be associated with a disease called CAII deficiency syndrome (CADS). Among the many mutations, the P237H mutation has been characterized to lead to a significant decrease in the activity of the enzyme and in the Gibbs free energy of folding. However, sequence alignment indicated that the 237th residue of CAII is not fully conserved across all species. The FoldX theoretical calculations suggested that this residue did not significantly contribute to the overall folding of HCAII, since all mutants had small ΔΔG values (around 1 kcal/mol). The experimental determination indicated that at least three mutations affect HCAII folding significantly and the P237H mutation was the most deleterious one, suggesting that Pro237 was important to HCAII folding. The discrepancy between theoretical and experimental results suggested that caution should be taken when using the prediction methods to evaluate the details of disease-related mutations.
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Van Durme J, Delgado J, Stricher F, Serrano L, Schymkowitz J, Rousseau F. A graphical interface for the FoldX forcefield. Bioinformatics 2011; 27:1711-2. [PMID: 21505037 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btr254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 250] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
SUMMARY A graphical user interface for the FoldX protein design program has been developed as a plugin for the YASARA molecular graphics suite. The most prominent FoldX commands such as free energy difference upon mutagenesis and interaction energy calculations can now be run entirely via a windowed menu system and the results are immediately shown on screen. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION The plugin is written in Python and is freely available for download at http://foldxyasara.switchlab.org/ and supported on Linux, MacOSX and MS Windows.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joost Van Durme
- VIB Switch Laboratory, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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Functional analysis of missense mutations G36A and G51A in PAX6, and PAX6(5a) causing ocular anomalies. Exp Eye Res 2011; 93:40-9. [PMID: 21524647 DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2011.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2010] [Revised: 04/02/2011] [Accepted: 04/05/2011] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The PAX6 has been described a "master regulator of eye development". A specific ratio of PAX6, and its alternatively spliced isoform, PAX6(5a), has also been observed essential for optimal function. Mutations into PAX6 lead to a number of ocular, and neuronal defects of variable penetrance and expressivity but the mechanism is either poorly understood or underrepresented. This report describes analysis of functions of two missense mutations, G36A, and G51A, causing optic-nerve hypoplasia and optic-disc coloboma in humans, respectively. Mutations were created by site-directed mutagenesis. Products were detected by in-vitro translation and transient transfection to the cultured NIH-3T3 cells. Their DNA-binding, and transcriptional activation properties were analysed through electrophoretic mobility shift assay and luciferase reporter assay, respectively. Mutations induced changes in conformation and secondary structure of PAX6, and PAX6(5a) not only restrict to specific site of mutation in the paired-domain but extend to homeodomain, and transactivation domain. The PAX6-G36A showed reduced binding to PAX6-consensus binding sequence and PAX6(5a)-consensus binding sequence but its binding affinity to homeodomain binding sequence was unaffected. It showed significantly higher transactivation potential through PAX6-consensus binding sequence but reduced activity with PAX6(5a)-consensus binding sequence and homeodomain binding sequence containing luciferase reporters. The PAX6(5a)-G36A showed enhanced transactivation potential with PAX6-consensus binding sequence, PAX6(5a)-consensus binding sequence, and homeodomain binding sequence containing luciferase reporters. The binding affinity of PAX6(5a)-G36A was significantly higher to PAX6-consensus binding sequence, and PAX6(5a)-consensus binding sequence as compared to PAX6(5a) but remains unaffected to homeodomain binding sequence. The enhanced binding affinity was observed by PAX6-G51A to PAX6-consensus binding sequence, PAX6(5a)-consensus binding sequence, and homeodomain binding sequence. The transactivation potential was observed higher with PAX6-consensus binding sequence but significant reduction was evident with PAX6(5a)-consensus binding sequence, and homeodomain binding sequence containing luciferase reporters. The lower binding affinity to PAX6-consensus binding sequence and PAX6(5a)-consensus binding sequence was observed by PAX6(5a)-G51A but loss of binding affinity was detected to homeodomain binding sequence. However, PAX6(5a)-G51A showed significantly higher transactivation with PAX6-consensus binding sequence, PAX6(5a)-consensus binding sequence, and homeodomain binding sequence containing luciferase reporters. With the eye-specific α-A-crystallin promoter, PAX6-G36A and PAX6-G51A mutants were found to have higher ability to transactivate whereas PAX6(5a)-G36A and PAX6(5a)-G51A have lower transactivation potential compared to their respective wild type forms. Thus, variable DNA-binding and transactivation properties of the mutants with different PAX6-binding sequences provide an insight towards their variable penetrance and expressivity.
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De Masi F, Grove CA, Vedenko A, Alibés A, Gisselbrecht SS, Serrano L, Bulyk ML, Walhout AJM. Using a structural and logics systems approach to infer bHLH-DNA binding specificity determinants. Nucleic Acids Res 2011; 39:4553-63. [PMID: 21335608 PMCID: PMC3113581 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkr070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous efforts are underway to determine gene regulatory networks that describe physical relationships between transcription factors (TFs) and their target DNA sequences. Members of paralogous TF families typically recognize similar DNA sequences. Knowledge of the molecular determinants of protein–DNA recognition by paralogous TFs is of central importance for understanding how small differences in DNA specificities can dictate target gene selection. Previously, we determined the in vitro DNA binding specificities of 19 Caenorhabditis elegans basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) dimers using protein binding microarrays. These TFs bind E-box (CANNTG) and E-box-like sequences. Here, we combine these data with logics, bHLH–DNA co-crystal structures and computational modeling to infer which bHLH monomer can interact with which CAN E-box half-site and we identify a critical residue in the protein that dictates this specificity. Validation experiments using mutant bHLH proteins provide support for our inferences. Our study provides insights into the mechanisms of DNA recognition by bHLH dimers as well as a blueprint for system-level studies of the DNA binding determinants of other TF families in different model organisms and humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico De Masi
- Department of Medicine, Division of Genetics, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Del Bianco C, Vedenko A, Choi SH, Berger MF, Shokri L, Bulyk ML, Blacklow SC. Notch and MAML-1 complexation do not detectably alter the DNA binding specificity of the transcription factor CSL. PLoS One 2010; 5:e15034. [PMID: 21124806 PMCID: PMC2991368 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0015034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2010] [Accepted: 10/08/2010] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Canonical Notch signaling is initiated when ligand binding induces proteolytic release of the intracellular part of Notch (ICN) from the cell membrane. ICN then travels into the nucleus where it drives the assembly of a transcriptional activation complex containing the DNA-binding transcription factor CSL, ICN, and a specialized co-activator of the Mastermind family. A consensus DNA binding site motif for the CSL protein was previously defined using selection-based methods, but whether subsequent association of Notch and Mastermind-like proteins affects the DNA binding preferences of CSL has not previously been examined. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here, we utilized protein-binding microarrays (PBMs) to compare the binding site preferences of isolated CSL with the preferred binding sites of CSL when bound to the CSL-binding domains of all four different human Notch receptors. Measurements were taken both in the absence and in the presence of Mastermind-like-1 (MAML1). Our data show no detectable difference in the DNA binding site preferences of CSL before and after loading of Notch and MAML1 proteins. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE These findings support the conclusion that accrual of Notch and MAML1 promote transcriptional activation without dramatically altering the preferred sites of DNA binding, and illustrate the potential of PBMs to analyze the binding site preferences of multiprotein-DNA complexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Del Bianco
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Anastasia Vedenko
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Sung Hee Choi
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Michael F. Berger
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Committee on Higher Degrees in Biophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Leila Shokri
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Martha L. Bulyk
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Committee on Higher Degrees in Biophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail: (SCB); (MLB)
| | - Stephen C. Blacklow
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Committee on Higher Degrees in Biophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail: (SCB); (MLB)
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Robasky K, Bulyk ML. UniPROBE, update 2011: expanded content and search tools in the online database of protein-binding microarray data on protein-DNA interactions. Nucleic Acids Res 2010; 39:D124-8. [PMID: 21037262 PMCID: PMC3013812 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkq992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 122] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The Universal PBM Resource for Oligonucleotide-Binding Evaluation (UniPROBE) database is a centralized repository of information on the DNA-binding preferences of proteins as determined by universal protein-binding microarray (PBM) technology. Each entry for a protein (or protein complex) in UniPROBE provides the quantitative preferences for all possible nucleotide sequence variants (‘words’) of length k (‘k-mers’), as well as position weight matrix (PWM) and graphical sequence logo representations of the k-mer data. In this update, we describe >130% expansion of the database content, incorporation of a protein BLAST (blastp) tool for finding protein sequence matches in UniPROBE, the introduction of UniPROBE accession numbers and additional database enhancements. The UniPROBE database is available at http://uniprobe.org.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly Robasky
- Department of Medicine, Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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