1
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Guca E, Alarcon R, Palo MZ, Santos L, Alonso-Gil S, Davyt M, de Lima LHF, Boissier F, Das S, Zagrovic B, Puglisi JD, Hashem Y, Ignatova Z. N 6-methyladenosine in 5' UTR does not promote translation initiation. Mol Cell 2024; 84:584-595.e6. [PMID: 38244546 PMCID: PMC10909339 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.12.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
The most abundant N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification on mRNAs is installed non-stoichiometrically across transcripts, with 5' untranslated regions (5' UTRs) being the least conductive. 5' UTRs are essential for translation initiation, yet the molecular mechanisms orchestrated by m6A remain poorly understood. Here, we combined structural, biochemical, and single-molecule approaches and show that at the most common position, a single m6A does not affect translation yields, the kinetics of translation initiation complex assembly, or start codon recognition both under permissive growth and following exposure to oxidative stress. Cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of the late preinitiation complex reveal that m6A purine ring established stacking interactions with an arginine side chain of the initiation factor eIF2α, although with only a marginal energy contribution, as estimated computationally. These findings provide molecular insights into m6A interactions with the initiation complex and suggest that the subtle stabilization is unlikely to affect the translation dynamics under homeostatic conditions or stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ewelina Guca
- INSERM U1212 Acides nucléiques: Régulations Naturelle et Artificielle (ARNA), Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac 33607, France
| | - Rodrigo Alarcon
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Michael Z Palo
- Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94304, USA
| | - Leonardo Santos
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Santiago Alonso-Gil
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Center for Molecular Biology, University of Vienna, 1030, Vienna, Austria; Max Perutz Labs, Vienna Biocenter Campus (VBC), 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Marcos Davyt
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Leonardo H F de Lima
- INSERM U1212 Acides nucléiques: Régulations Naturelle et Artificielle (ARNA), Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac 33607, France; Department of Exact and Biological Sciences, Federal University of São João Del Rei, Sete Lagoas Campus, Sete Lagoas 35701-970, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Fanny Boissier
- INSERM U1212 Acides nucléiques: Régulations Naturelle et Artificielle (ARNA), Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac 33607, France
| | - Sarada Das
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Bojan Zagrovic
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Center for Molecular Biology, University of Vienna, 1030, Vienna, Austria; Max Perutz Labs, Vienna Biocenter Campus (VBC), 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Joseph D Puglisi
- Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94304, USA
| | - Yaser Hashem
- INSERM U1212 Acides nucléiques: Régulations Naturelle et Artificielle (ARNA), Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac 33607, France.
| | - Zoya Ignatova
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany.
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2
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Porcelli F, Casavola AR, Grottesi A, Schiumarini D, Avaldi L. Probing the conformational dynamics of an Ago-RNA complex in water/methanol solution. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:2497-2508. [PMID: 38170800 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp05530b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Argonaute (Ago) proteins mediate target recognition guiding miRNA to bind complementary mRNA primarily in the seed region. However, additional pairing can occur beyond the seed, forming a supplementary duplex that can contribute to the guide-target affinity. In order to shed light on the connection, between protein-RNA interactions and miRNA-mRNA seed and supplementary duplex mobility, we carried out molecular dynamics simulations at the microsecond time-scale using a different approach compared to the ones normally used. Until now, theoretical investigations with classical MD on Ago-RNA complexes have been focused primarily on pure water solvent, which mimics the natural environment of biological molecules. Here, we explored the conformational space of a human Ago2 (hAgo2) bound to the seed + supplementary miRNA-mRNA duplex, using the solvent environment as a molecular probe. MD simulations have been performed in a mixture of water/MeOH at a molar ratio of 70 : 30 as well as in pure water for comparison. Our findings revealed that the mixed solvent promotes protein RNA association, principally enhancing salt-linkages between basic amino acid side-chains and acidic phosphates of the sugar-phosphate backbone. The primary effect registered was the restriction of supplementary duplex flexibility and the stabilization of the miRNA 3' terminus. Interestingly, we observed that the influence of the solvent appears to have almost no impact on the conformation of the seed duplex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Porcelli
- CNR-Istituto di Struttura della Materia, Area della Ricerca di Roma 1, CP 10 Monterotondo Scalo, Italy.
| | - Anna Rita Casavola
- CNR-Istituto di Struttura della Materia, Area della Ricerca di Roma 1, CP 10 Monterotondo Scalo, Italy.
| | | | - Donatella Schiumarini
- CNR-Istituto di Struttura della Materia, Area della Ricerca di Roma 1, CP 10 Monterotondo Scalo, Italy.
| | - Lorenzo Avaldi
- CNR-Istituto di Struttura della Materia, Area della Ricerca di Roma 1, CP 10 Monterotondo Scalo, Italy.
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3
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Zagrovic B, Adlhart M, Kapral TH. Coding From Binding? Molecular Interactions at the Heart of Translation. Annu Rev Biophys 2023; 52:69-89. [PMID: 36626765 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biophys-090622-102329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
The mechanism and the evolution of DNA replication and transcription, the key elements of the central dogma of biology, are fundamentally well explained by the physicochemical complementarity between strands of nucleic acids. However, the determinants that have shaped the third part of the dogma-the process of biological translation and the universal genetic code-remain unclear. We review and seek parallels between different proposals that view the evolution of translation through the prism of weak, noncovalent interactions between biological macromolecules. In particular, we focus on a recent proposal that there exists a hitherto unrecognized complementarity at the heart of biology, that between messenger RNA coding regions and the proteins that they encode, especially if the two are unstructured. Reflecting the idea that the genetic code evolved from intrinsic binding propensities between nucleotides and amino acids, this proposal promises to forge a link between the distant past and the present of biological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bojan Zagrovic
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max Perutz Labs & University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria;
| | - Marlene Adlhart
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max Perutz Labs & University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria;
| | - Thomas H Kapral
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max Perutz Labs & University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria;
- Vienna BioCenter PhD Program, Doctoral School of the University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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4
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Laghmach R, Malhotra I, Potoyan DA. Multiscale Modeling of Protein-RNA Condensation in and Out of Equilibrium. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2563:117-133. [PMID: 36227470 PMCID: PMC11186142 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2663-4_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
A vast number of intracellular membraneless bodies also known as biomolecular condensates form through a liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of biomolecules. To date, phase separation has been identified as the main driving force for a membraneless organelles such as nucleoli, Cajal bodies, stress granules, and chromatin compartments. Recently, the protein-RNA condensation is receiving increased attention, because it is closely related to the biological function of cells such as transcription, translation, and RNA metabolism. Despite the multidisciplinary efforts put forth to study the biophysical properties of protein-RNA condensates, there are many fundamental unanswered questions regarding the mechanism of formation and regulation of protein-RNA condensates in eukaryotic cells. Major challenges in studying protein-RNA condensation stem from (i) the molecular heterogeneity and conformational flexibility of RNA and protein chains and (ii) the nonequilibrium nature of transcription and cellular environment. Computer simulations, bioinformatics, and mathematical models are uniquely positioned for shedding light on the microscopic nature of protein-RNA phase separation. To this end, there is an urgent need for innovative models with the right spatiotemporal resolution for confronting the experimental observables in a comprehensive and physics-based manner. In this chapter, we will summarize the currently emerging research efforts, which employ atomistic and coarse-grained molecular models and field theoretical models to understand equilibrium and nonequilibrium aspects of protein-RNA condensation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rabia Laghmach
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | - Isha Malhotra
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | - Davit A Potoyan
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
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5
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Interaction preferences between protein side chains and key epigenetic modifications 5-methylcytosine, 5-hydroxymethycytosine and N 6-methyladenine. Sci Rep 2022; 12:19583. [PMID: 36380112 PMCID: PMC9666514 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-23585-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Covalent modifications of standard DNA/RNA nucleobases affect epigenetic regulation of gene expression by modulating interactions between nucleic acids and protein readers. We derive here the absolute binding free energies and analyze the binding modalities between key modified nucleobases 5-methylcytosine (5mC), 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and N6-methyladenine (m6A) and all non-prolyl/non-glycyl protein side chains using molecular dynamics simulations and umbrella sampling in both water and methanol, the latter mimicking the low dielectric environment at the dehydrated nucleic-acid/protein interfaces. We verify the derived affinities by comparing against a comprehensive set of high-resolution structures of nucleic-protein complexes involving 5mC. Our analysis identifies protein side chains that are highly tuned for detecting cytosine methylation as a function of the environment and can thus serve as microscopic readers of epigenetic marks. Conversely, we show that the relative ordering of sidechain affinities for 5hmC and m6A does not differ significantly from those for their precursor bases, cytosine and adenine, respectively, especially in the low dielectric environment. For those two modified bases, the effect is more nuanced and manifests itself primarily at the level of absolute changes in the binding free energy. Our results contribute towards establishing a quantitative foundation for understanding, predicting and modulating the interactions between modified nucleic acids and proteins at the atomistic level.
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6
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Kapral TH, Farnhammer F, Zhao W, Lu ZJ, Zagrovic B. Widespread autogenous mRNA-protein interactions detected by CLIP-seq. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:9984-9999. [PMID: 36107779 PMCID: PMC9508846 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2021] [Revised: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Autogenous interactions between mRNAs and the proteins they encode are implicated in cellular feedback-loop regulation, but their extent and mechanistic foundation are unclear. It was recently hypothesized that such interactions may be common, reflecting the role of intrinsic nucleobase-amino acid affinities in shaping the genetic code's structure. Here we analyze a comprehensive set of CLIP-seq experiments involving multiple protocols and report on widespread autogenous interactions across different organisms. Specifically, 230 of 341 (67%) studied RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) interact with their own mRNAs, with a heavy enrichment among high-confidence hits and a preference for coding sequence binding. We account for different confounding variables, including physical (overexpression and proximity during translation), methodological (difference in CLIP protocols, peak callers and cell types) and statistical (treatment of null backgrounds). In particular, we demonstrate a high statistical significance of autogenous interactions by sampling null distributions of fixed-margin interaction matrices. Furthermore, we study the dependence of autogenous binding on the presence of RNA-binding motifs and structured domains in RBPs. Finally, we show that intrinsic nucleobase-amino acid affinities favor co-aligned binding between mRNA coding regions and the proteins they encode. Our results suggest a central role for autogenous interactions in RBP regulation and support the possibility of a fundamental connection between coding and binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas H Kapral
- Departmet of Structural and Computational Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, A-1030, Austria,Vienna BioCenter PhD Program, Doctoral School of the University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, A-1030, Austria
| | - Fiona Farnhammer
- Departmet of Structural and Computational Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, A-1030, Austria,Division of Metabolism, University Children's Hospital Zurich and Children's Research Center, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8032, Switzerland,Division of Oncology, University Children's Hospital Zurich and Children's Research Center, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8032, Switzerland
| | - Weihao Zhao
- MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Zhi J Lu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Bojan Zagrovic
- To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +43 1 4277 52271; Fax: +43 1 4277 9522;
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7
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Adlhart M, Poetsch F, Hlevnjak M, Hoogmoed M, Polyansky A, Zagrovic B. Compositional complementarity between genomic RNA and coat proteins in positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:4054-4067. [PMID: 35357492 PMCID: PMC9023274 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
During packaging in positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA) viruses, coat proteins (CPs) interact directly with multiple regions in genomic RNA (gRNA), but the underlying physicochemical principles remain unclear. Here we analyze the high-resolution cryo-EM structure of bacteriophage MS2 and show that the gRNA/CP binding sites, including the known packaging signal, overlap significantly with regions where gRNA nucleobase-density profiles match the corresponding CP nucleobase-affinity profiles. Moreover, we show that the MS2 packaging signal corresponds to the global minimum in gRNA/CP interaction energy in the unstructured state as derived using a linearly additive model and knowledge-based nucleobase/amino-acid affinities. Motivated by this, we predict gRNA/CP interaction sites for a comprehensive set of 1082 +ssRNA viruses. We validate our predictions by comparing them with site-resolved information on gRNA/CP interactions derived in SELEX and CLIP experiments for 10 different viruses. Finally, we show that in experimentally studied systems CPs frequently interact with autologous coding regions in gRNA, in agreement with both predicted interaction energies and a recent proposal that proteins in general tend to interact with own mRNAs, if unstructured. Our results define a self-consistent framework for understanding packaging in +ssRNA viruses and implicate interactions between unstructured gRNA and CPs in the process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlene Adlhart
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, A-1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Florian Poetsch
- Institute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Center for Medical Research, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Huemerstraße 3-5, 4020 Linz, Austria
| | - Mario Hlevnjak
- Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Megan Hoogmoed
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, A-1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anton A Polyansky
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, A-1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Bojan Zagrovic
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, A-1030, Vienna, Austria
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8
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Alshareedah I, Moosa MM, Pham M, Potoyan DA, Banerjee PR. Programmable viscoelasticity in protein-RNA condensates with disordered sticker-spacer polypeptides. Nat Commun 2021; 12:6620. [PMID: 34785657 PMCID: PMC8595643 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26733-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Liquid-liquid phase separation of multivalent proteins and RNAs drives the formation of biomolecular condensates that facilitate membrane-free compartmentalization of subcellular processes. With recent advances, it is becoming increasingly clear that biomolecular condensates are network fluids with time-dependent material properties. Here, employing microrheology with optical tweezers, we reveal molecular determinants that govern the viscoelastic behavior of condensates formed by multivalent Arg/Gly-rich sticker-spacer polypeptides and RNA. These condensates behave as Maxwell fluids with an elastically-dominant rheological response at shorter timescales and a liquid-like behavior at longer timescales. The viscous and elastic regimes of these condensates can be tuned by the polypeptide and RNA sequences as well as their mixture compositions. Our results establish a quantitative link between the sequence- and structure-encoded biomolecular interactions at the microscopic scale and the rheological properties of the resulting condensates at the mesoscale, enabling a route to systematically probe and rationally engineer biomolecular condensates with programmable mechanics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Matthew Pham
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
| | - Davit A Potoyan
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.
| | - Priya R Banerjee
- Department of Physics, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA.
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9
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Wilson KA, Kung RW, D'souza S, Wetmore SD. Anatomy of noncovalent interactions between the nucleobases or ribose and π-containing amino acids in RNA-protein complexes. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:2213-2225. [PMID: 33544852 PMCID: PMC7913691 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
A set of >300 nonredundant high-resolution RNA–protein complexes were rigorously searched for π-contacts between an amino acid side chain (W, H, F, Y, R, E and D) and an RNA nucleobase (denoted π–π interaction) or ribose moiety (denoted sugar–π). The resulting dataset of >1500 RNA–protein π-contacts were visually inspected and classified based on the interaction type, and amino acids and RNA components involved. More than 80% of structures searched contained at least one RNA–protein π-interaction, with π–π contacts making up 59% of the identified interactions. RNA–protein π–π and sugar–π contacts exhibit a range in the RNA and protein components involved, relative monomer orientations and quantum mechanically predicted binding energies. Interestingly, π–π and sugar–π interactions occur more frequently with RNA (4.8 contacts/structure) than DNA (2.6). Moreover, the maximum stability is greater for RNA–protein contacts than DNA–protein interactions. In addition to highlighting distinct differences between RNA and DNA–protein binding, this work has generated the largest dataset of RNA–protein π-interactions to date, thereby underscoring that RNA–protein π-contacts are ubiquitous in nature, and key to the stability and function of RNA–protein complexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie A Wilson
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive West, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4, Canada
| | - Ryan W Kung
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive West, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4, Canada
| | - Simmone D'souza
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive West, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4, Canada
| | - Stacey D Wetmore
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive West, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4, Canada
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10
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Tang T, Guo D, Huang S. Preparation and chromatographic evaluation of the hydrophilic interaction chromatography stationary phase based on nucleosides or nucleotides. ANALYTICAL METHODS : ADVANCING METHODS AND APPLICATIONS 2021; 13:419-425. [PMID: 33427266 DOI: 10.1039/d0ay02016h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
In this work, a series of novel hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) stationary phases were prepared by grafting nucleosides or nucleotides on the surface of silica gel. Firstly, the silica was modified with 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS). And then nucleosides or nucleotides were bonded on the surface of GPTMS-modified silica through the epoxy-amine ring-opening reaction to provide four HILIC materials. These obtained stationary phases were successfully characterized by Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and elemental analysis (EA), respectively. Effects of column temperature, water content of the mobile phase, pH and buffer concentration on the retention behavior of these HILIC materials and the corresponding separation mechanism were evaluated using various nucleosides and nucleobases, respectively. In addition, polar and hydrophilic compounds such as amino acids and water-soluble vitamins were successfully separated using the corresponding columns, showing application potential for the separation of bioactive substances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingfeng Tang
- Institute of Drug Discovery Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China.
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11
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Energy mapping of the genetic code and genomic domains: implications for code evolution and molecular Darwinism. Q Rev Biophys 2020; 53:e11. [PMID: 33143792 DOI: 10.1017/s0033583520000098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
When the iconic DNA genetic code is expressed in terms of energy differentials, one observes that information embedded in chemical sequences, including some biological outcomes, correlate with distinctive free energy profiles. Specifically, we find correlations between codon usage and codon free energy, suggestive of a thermodynamic selection for codon usage. We also find correlations between what are considered ancient amino acids and high codon free energy values. Such correlations may be reflective of the sequence-based genetic code fundamentally mapping as an energy code. In such a perspective, one can envision the genetic code as composed of interlocking thermodynamic cycles that allow codons to 'evolve' from each other through a series of sequential transitions and transversions, which are influenced by an energy landscape modulated by both thermodynamic and kinetic factors. As such, early evolution of the genetic code may have been driven, in part, by differential energetics, as opposed exclusively by the functionality of any gene product. In such a scenario, evolutionary pressures can, in part, derive from the optimization of biophysical properties (e.g. relative stabilities and relative rates), in addition to the classic perspective of being driven by a phenotypical adaptive advantage (natural selection). Such differential energy mapping of the genetic code, as well as larger genomic domains, may reflect an energetically resolved and evolved genomic landscape, consistent with a type of differential, energy-driven 'molecular Darwinism'. It should not be surprising that evolution of the code was influenced by differential energetics, as thermodynamics is the most general and universal branch of science that operates over all time and length scales.
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12
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Boots JL, von Pelchrzim F, Weiss A, Zimmermann B, Friesacher T, Radtke M, Żywicki M, Chen D, Matylla-Kulińska K, Zagrovic B, Schroeder R. RNA polymerase II-binding aptamers in human ACRO1 satellites disrupt transcription in cis. Transcription 2020; 11:217-229. [PMID: 32663063 PMCID: PMC7714431 DOI: 10.1080/21541264.2020.1790990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Transcription elongation is a highly regulated process affected by many proteins, RNAs and the underlying DNA. Here we show that the nascent RNA can interfere with transcription in human cells, extending our previous findings from bacteria and yeast. We identified a variety of Pol II-binding aptamers (RAPs), prominent in repeat elements such as ACRO1 satellites, LINE1 retrotransposons and CA simple repeats, and also in several protein-coding genes. ACRO1 repeat, when translated in silico, exhibits ~50% identity with the Pol II CTD sequence. Taken together with a recent proposal that proteins in general tend to interact with RNAs similar to their cognate mRNAs, this suggests a mechanism for RAP binding. Using a reporter construct, we show that ACRO1 potently inhibits Pol II elongation in cis. We propose a novel mode of transcriptional regulation in humans, in which the nascent RNA binds Pol II to silence its own expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L. Boots
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Frederike von Pelchrzim
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Adam Weiss
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Bob Zimmermann
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Theres Friesacher
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Maximilian Radtke
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Marek Żywicki
- Department of Computational Biology, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poznan, Poland
| | - Doris Chen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Katarzyna Matylla-Kulińska
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Bojan Zagrovic
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Renée Schroeder
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria,CONTACT Renée Schroeder Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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13
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Auboeuf D. Physicochemical Foundations of Life that Direct Evolution: Chance and Natural Selection are not Evolutionary Driving Forces. Life (Basel) 2020; 10:life10020007. [PMID: 31973071 PMCID: PMC7175370 DOI: 10.3390/life10020007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2019] [Revised: 01/15/2020] [Accepted: 01/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The current framework of evolutionary theory postulates that evolution relies on random mutations generating a diversity of phenotypes on which natural selection acts. This framework was established using a top-down approach as it originated from Darwinism, which is based on observations made of complex multicellular organisms and, then, modified to fit a DNA-centric view. In this article, it is argued that based on a bottom-up approach starting from the physicochemical properties of nucleic and amino acid polymers, we should reject the facts that (i) natural selection plays a dominant role in evolution and (ii) the probability of mutations is independent of the generated phenotype. It is shown that the adaptation of a phenotype to an environment does not correspond to organism fitness, but rather corresponds to maintaining the genome stability and integrity. In a stable environment, the phenotype maintains the stability of its originating genome and both (genome and phenotype) are reproduced identically. In an unstable environment (i.e., corresponding to variations in physicochemical parameters above a physiological range), the phenotype no longer maintains the stability of its originating genome, but instead influences its variations. Indeed, environment- and cellular-dependent physicochemical parameters define the probability of mutations in terms of frequency, nature, and location in a genome. Evolution is non-deterministic because it relies on probabilistic physicochemical rules, and evolution is driven by a bidirectional interplay between genome and phenotype in which the phenotype ensures the stability of its originating genome in a cellular and environmental physicochemical parameter-depending manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Didier Auboeuf
- Laboratory of Biology and Modelling of the Cell, Univ Lyon, ENS de Lyon, Univ Claude Bernard, CNRS UMR 5239, INSERM U1210, 46 Allée d'Italie, Site Jacques Monod, F-69007, Lyon, France
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Seligmann H, Warthi G. Chimeric Translation for Mitochondrial Peptides: Regular and Expanded Codons. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2019; 17:1195-1202. [PMID: 31534643 PMCID: PMC6742854 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2019.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Revised: 08/19/2019] [Accepted: 08/21/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Frameshifting protein translation occasionally results from insertion of amino acids at isolated mono- or dinucleotide-expanded codons by tRNAs with expanded anticodons. Previous analyses of two different types of human mitochondrial MS proteomic data (Fisher and Waters technologies) detect peptides entirely corresponding to expanded codon translation. Here, these proteomic data are reanalyzed searching for peptides consisting of at least eight consecutive amino acids translated according to regular tricodons, and at least eight adjacent consecutive amino acids translated according to expanded codons. Both datasets include chimerically translated peptides (mono- and dinucleotide expansions, 42 and 37, respectively). The regular tricodon-encoded part of some chimeric peptides corresponds to standard human mitochondrial proteins (mono- and dinucleotide expansions, six (AT6, CytB, ND1, 2xND2, ND5) and one (ND1), respectively). Chimeric translation probably increases the diversity of mitogenome-encoded proteins, putatively producing functional proteins. These might result from translation by tRNAs with expanded anticodons, or from regular tricodon translation of RNAs where transcription/posttranscriptional edition systematically deleted mono- or dinucleotides after each trinucleotide. The pairwise matched combination of adjacent peptide parts translated from regular and expanded codons strengthens the hypothesis that translation of stretches of consecutive expanded codons occurs. Results indicate statistical translation producing distributions of alternative proteins. Genetic engineering should account for potential unexpected, unwanted secondary products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hervé Seligmann
- The National Natural History Collections, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91404 Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ganesh Warthi
- Aix-Marseille University, IRD, VITROME, Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Méditerranée-Infection, Marseille, France
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15
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Kim Y, You HJ, Park SH, Kim MS, Chae H, Park J, Jekarl DW, Kim J, Kwon A, Choi H, Kim Y, Paek AR, Lee A, Kim JM, Park SY, Kim Y, Joo K, Jung J, Chung SH, Mok JW, Kim M. A Mutation in ZNF143 as a Novel Candidate Gene for Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy. J Clin Med 2019; 8:jcm8081174. [PMID: 31390831 PMCID: PMC6723187 DOI: 10.3390/jcm8081174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2019] [Revised: 08/02/2019] [Accepted: 08/04/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Corneal dystrophies (CDs) are a diverse group of inherited disorders with a heterogeneous genetic background. Here, we report the identification of a novel ZNF143 heterozygous missense mutation in three individuals of the same family with clinical and pathological features that are consistent with endothelial CD. Ophthalmologic examination revealed diffuse corneal clouding and edema with decreased endothelial cell density. Pathological findings showed increased corneal thickness due to edema of basal epithelial cells and stroma, and abnormal metaplastic endothelium with stratified epithelium-like changes. Patients’ metaplastic corneal endothelial cells expressed predominantly cytokerain 7, cytokeratin 19, and E-cadherin. Although Sanger sequencing did not detect any mutation associated with endothelial CDs, whole exome sequencing identified the ZNF143 c.937G>C p.(Asp313His) mutation as a candidate gene for our patients’ endothelial CD. In-vitro functional studies demonstrated that mutant ZNF143 promoted the mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition; it upregulated the expression of genes associated with epithelialization in human corneal endothelial cells. Additionally, proinflammatory cytokine responsive genes were significantly enriched after mutant ZNF143 transfection, which may contribute to the severe phenotype of the three patients. These findings link a mutation in ZNF143 with endothelial CD for the first time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonggoo Kim
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
- Catholic Genetic Laboratory Center, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | - Hye Jin You
- Cancer Cell and Molecular Biology Branch, Division of Cancer Biology, National Cancer Center, Gyeonggi-do 10408, Korea
| | - Shin Hae Park
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | - Man Soo Kim
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | - Hyojin Chae
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
- Catholic Genetic Laboratory Center, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | - Joonhong Park
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
- Catholic Genetic Laboratory Center, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | - Dong Wook Jekarl
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
- Catholic Genetic Laboratory Center, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | - Jiyeon Kim
- Catholic Genetic Laboratory Center, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | - Ahlm Kwon
- Catholic Genetic Laboratory Center, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | - Hayoung Choi
- Catholic Genetic Laboratory Center, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | - Yeojae Kim
- Catholic Genetic Laboratory Center, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | - A Rome Paek
- Cancer Cell and Molecular Biology Branch, Division of Cancer Biology, National Cancer Center, Gyeonggi-do 10408, Korea
| | - Ahwon Lee
- Department of Hospital Pathology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | | | - Seon Young Park
- Department of Life Systems, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul 04312, Korea
| | - Yonghwan Kim
- Department of Life Systems, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul 04312, Korea
| | - Keehyoung Joo
- Center for in Silico Protein Science, Korea Institute for Advanced Study, Seoul 02455, Korea
- Center for Advanced Computation, Korea Institute for Advanced Study, Seoul 02455, Korea
- Center for Advanced Computation, Korea Institute for Advanced Study, Seoul 02455, Korea
| | | | - So-Hyang Chung
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
- Catholic Institutes of Visual Science, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | - Jee Won Mok
- Catholic Institutes of Visual Science, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
| | - Myungshin Kim
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea.
- Catholic Genetic Laboratory Center, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea.
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16
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Alvarez Paggi D, Esperante SA, Salgueiro M, Camporeale G, de Oliveira GAP, Prat Gay G. A conformational switch balances viral RNA accessibility and protection in a nucleocapsid ring model. Arch Biochem Biophys 2019; 671:77-86. [PMID: 31229488 DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2019.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Revised: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 06/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Virus from the Mononegavirales order share common features ranging from virion structure arrangement to mechanisms of replication and transcription. One of them is the way the nucleoprotein (N) wraps and protects the RNA genome from degradation by forming a highly ordered helical nucleocapsid. However, crystal structures from numerous Mononegavirales reveal that binding to the nucleoprotein results in occluded nucleotides that hinder base pairing necessary for transcription and replication. This hints at the existence of alternative conformations of the N protein that would impact on the protein-RNA interface, allowing for transient exposure of the nucleotides without complete RNA release. Moreover, the regulation between the alternative conformations should be finely tuned. Recombinant expression of N from the respiratory syncytial virus form regular N/RNA common among all Mononegavirales, and these constitute an ideal minimal unit for investigating the mechanisms through which these structures protect RNA so efficiently while allowing for partial accessibility during transcription and replication. Neither pH nor high ionic strength could dissociate the RNA but led to irreversible aggregation of the nucleoprotein. Low concentrations of guanidine chloride dissociated the RNA moiety but leading to irreversible aggregation of the protein moiety. On the other hand, high concentrations of urea and long incubation periods were required to remove bound RNA. Both denaturants eventually led to unfolding but converged in the formation of an RNA-free β-enriched intermediate species that remained decameric even at high denaturant concentrations. Although the N-RNA rings interact with the phosphoprotein P, the scaffold of the RNA polymerase complex, this interaction did not lead to RNA dissociation from the rings in vitro. Thus, we have uncovered complex equilibria involving changes in secondary structure of N and RNA loosening, processes that must take place in the context of RNA transcription and replication, whose detailed mechanisms and cellular and viral participants need to be established.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Alvarez Paggi
- Protein Structure-Function and Engineering Laboratory, Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET, Argentina.
| | - S A Esperante
- Protein Structure-Function and Engineering Laboratory, Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET, Argentina
| | - M Salgueiro
- Protein Structure-Function and Engineering Laboratory, Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET, Argentina
| | - G Camporeale
- Protein Structure-Function and Engineering Laboratory, Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET, Argentina
| | - G A P de Oliveira
- Programa de Biologia Estrutural, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Centro Nacional de Ressonância Magnêtica Nuclear Jiri Jonas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22908-0733, USA
| | - G Prat Gay
- Protein Structure-Function and Engineering Laboratory, Fundación Instituto Leloir and IIBBA-CONICET, Argentina.
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17
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Pal A, Levy Y. Structure, stability and specificity of the binding of ssDNA and ssRNA with proteins. PLoS Comput Biol 2019; 15:e1006768. [PMID: 30933978 PMCID: PMC6467422 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2018] [Revised: 04/16/2019] [Accepted: 01/01/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Recognition of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) or single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) is important for many fundamental cellular functions. A variety of single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (ssDBPs) and single-stranded RNA-binding proteins (ssRBPs) have evolved that bind ssDNA and ssRNA, respectively, with varying degree of affinities and specificities to form complexes. Structural studies of these complexes provide key insights into their recognition mechanism. However, computational modeling of the specific recognition process and to predict the structure of the complex is challenging, primarily due to the heterogeneity of their binding energy landscape and the greater flexibility of ssDNA or ssRNA compared with double-stranded nucleic acids. Consequently, considerably fewer computational studies have explored interactions between proteins and single-stranded nucleic acids compared with protein interactions with double-stranded nucleic acids. Here, we report a newly developed energy-based coarse-grained model to predict the structure of ssDNA–ssDBP and ssRNA–ssRBP complexes and to assess their sequence-specific interactions and stabilities. We tuned two factors that can modulate specific recognition: base–aromatic stacking strength and the flexibility of the single-stranded nucleic acid. The model was successfully applied to predict the binding conformations of 12 distinct ssDBP and ssRBP structures with their cognate ssDNA and ssRNA partners having various sequences. Estimated binding energies agreed well with the corresponding experimental binding affinities. Bound conformations from the simulation showed a funnel-shaped binding energy distribution where the native-like conformations corresponded to the energy minima. The various ssDNA–protein and ssRNA–protein complexes differed in the balance of electrostatic and aromatic energies. The lower affinity of the ssRNA–ssRBP complexes compared with the ssDNA–ssDBP complexes stems from lower flexibility of ssRNA compared to ssDNA, which results in higher rate constants for the dissociation of the complex (koff) for complexes involving the former. Quantifying bimolecular self-assembly is pivotal to understanding cellular function. In recent years, a large progress has been made in understanding the structure and biophysics of protein-protein interactions. Particularly, various computational tools are available for predicting these structures and to estimate their stability and the driving forces of their formation. The understating of the interactions between proteins and nucleic acids, however, is still limited, presumably due to the involvement of non-specific interactions as well as the high conformational plasticity that may demand an induced-fit mechanism. In particular, the interactions between proteins and single-stranded nucleic acids (i.e., single-stranded DNA and RNA) is very challenging due to their high flexibility. Furthermore, the interface between proteins and single-stranded nucleic acids is often chemically more heterogeneous than the interface between proteins and double-stranded DNA. In this study, we developed a coarse-grained computational model to predict the structure of complexes between proteins and single-stranded nucleic acids. The model was applied to estimate binding affinities and the estimated binding energies agreed well with the corresponding experimental binding affinities. The kinetics of association as well as the specificity of the complexes between proteins and ssDNA are different than those with ssRNA, mostly due to differences in their conformational flexibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arumay Pal
- Department of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Yaakov Levy
- Department of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- * E-mail:
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18
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Jakubec D, Vondrášek J. Can All-Atom Molecular Dynamics Simulations Quantitatively Describe Homeodomain-DNA Binding Equilibria? J Chem Theory Comput 2019; 15:2635-2648. [PMID: 30807142 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.8b01144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
We systematically investigate the applicability of a molecular dynamics-based setup for the calculations of standard binding free energies of biologically relevant protein-DNA complexes. The free energies are extracted from a potential of mean force calculated using umbrella sampling simulations. Two protein-DNA systems derived from a homeodomain transcription factor complex are studied in order to investigate the binding of both disordered and globular proteins. Free energies and trajectories obtained using two modern molecular mechanical force fields are compared to each other and to experimental data. The temperature dependence of the calculated standard binding free energies is investigated by performing all simulations over a range of temperatures. We show that the values of standard binding free energies obtained from these simulations are overestimated compared to experimental results. Significant differences are observed between the two protein-DNA systems and between the two force fields, which are explained by different propensities to form inter- and intramolecular contacts. The number of protein-DNA contacts increases with increasing temperature, in agreement with the experimentally known temperature dependence of enthalpies of binding. However, conclusions about the temperature dependence of the standard binding free energies cannot be made with confidence, as the differences among the values are on the order of statistical uncertainty.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Jakubec
- Bioinformatics Group, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry , Czech Academy of Sciences , 166 10 Praha 6, Czech Republic.,Department of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Science , Charles University , 128 43 Praha 2, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Vondrášek
- Bioinformatics Group, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry , Czech Academy of Sciences , 166 10 Praha 6, Czech Republic
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19
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Bartold K, Pietrzyk-Le A, Lisowski W, Golebiewska K, Siklitskaya A, Borowicz P, Shao S, D'Souza F, Kutner W. Promoting bioanalytical concepts in genetics: A TATA box molecularly imprinted polymer as a small isolated fragment of the DNA damage repairing system. MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING. C, MATERIALS FOR BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS 2019; 100:1-10. [PMID: 30948043 DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2019.02.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2019] [Revised: 02/01/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
We demonstrate that a new, stable, artificial TATA (T - thymine, A - adenine) box is recognized by amino acids recognizing the natural TATA box. Here, the former mimicked, as a minimal motif, oligodeoxyribonucleotide interactions with amino acids of proteins involved in repairing of damaged dsDNA. By electropolymerization, we molecularly imprinted non-labeled 5'-TATAAA-3' via Watson-Crick nucleobase pairing, thus synthesizing, in a one-step procedure, the hexakis[bis(2,2'-bithien-5-yl)] TTTATA and simultaneously hybridizing it with the 5'-TATAAA-3' template. That is, a stable dsDNA analog having a controlled sequence of nucleobases was formed in the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP). The 5'-TATAAA-3' was by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiling found to be homogeneously distributed both in the bulk of the MIP film and on its surface. The 5'-TATAAA-3' concentration in the 2.8(±0.2)-nm relative surface area, ~140-nm thick MIP film was 2.1 mM. The MIP served as a matrix of an artificial TATA box with the TATAAA-promoter sequence. We comprehensively characterized this artificial DNA hybrid by the polarization-modulation infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Further, we examined interactions of DNA repairing TATA binding protein (TBP) amino acids with the artificial TATA box prepared. That is, molecules of l-phenylalanine aromatic amino acid were presumably engaged in stacking interactions with nucleobase steps of this artificial TATA box. The nitrogen-to‑phosphorus atomic % ratio on the surface of the MIP-(5'-TATAAA-3') film increased by ~1.6 times after film immersing in the l-glutamic acid solution, as determined using the XPS depth profiling. Furthermore, l-lysine and l-serine preferentially interacted with the phosphate moiety of 5'-TATAAA-3'. We monitored amino acids interactions with the artificial TATA box using real-time piezoelectric microgravimetry at a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy under flow injection analysis (FIA) conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Bartold
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Wojciech Lisowski
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | | | - Pawel Borowicz
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Shuai Shao
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Texas, Denton TX, USA
| | - Francis D'Souza
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Texas, Denton TX, USA
| | - Wlodzimierz Kutner
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland; Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, School of Sciences, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, Poland
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Nicholson DA, Sengupta A, Sung HL, Nesbitt DJ. Amino Acid Stabilization of Nucleic Acid Secondary Structure: Kinetic Insights from Single-Molecule Studies. J Phys Chem B 2018; 122:9869-9876. [PMID: 30289262 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b06872] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Amino acid and nucleic acid interactions are central in biology and may have played a role in the evolutionary development of protein-based life from an early "RNA Universe." To explore the possible role of single amino acids in promoting nucleic acid folding, single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer experiments have been implemented with a DNA hairpin construct (7 nucleotide double strand with a 40A loop) as a simple model for secondary structure formation. Exposure to positively charged amino acids (arginine and lysine) is found to clearly stabilize the secondary structure. Kinetically, each amino acid promotes folding by generating a large increase in the folding rate with little change in the unfolding rate. From analysis as a function of temperature, arginine and lysine are found to significantly increase the overall exothermicity of folding while imposing only a small entropic penalty on the folding process. Detailed investigations into the kinetics and thermodynamics of this amino acid-induced folding stability reveal arginine and lysine to interact with nucleic acids in a manner reminiscent of monovalent cations. Specifically, these observations are interpreted in the context of an ion atmosphere surrounding the nucleic acid, in which amino acid salts stabilize folding qualitatively like small monovalent cations but also exhibit differences because of the composition of their side chains.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Nicholson
- JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado , Boulder , Colorado 80309 , United States
| | - Abhigyan Sengupta
- Department of Bioengineering , University of California at Merced , Merced , California 95340 , United States
| | - Hsuan-Lei Sung
- JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado , Boulder , Colorado 80309 , United States
| | - David J Nesbitt
- JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado , Boulder , Colorado 80309 , United States
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21
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Zagrovic B, Bartonek L, Polyansky AA. RNA-protein interactions in an unstructured context. FEBS Lett 2018; 592:2901-2916. [PMID: 29851074 PMCID: PMC6175095 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.13116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2018] [Revised: 05/12/2018] [Accepted: 05/13/2018] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Despite their importance, our understanding of noncovalent RNA-protein interactions is incomplete. This especially concerns the binding between RNA and unstructured protein regions, a widespread class of such interactions. Here, we review the recent experimental and computational work on RNA-protein interactions in an unstructured context with a particular focus on how such interactions may be shaped by the intrinsic interaction affinities between individual nucleobases and protein side chains. Specifically, we articulate the claim that the universal genetic code reflects the binding specificity between nucleobases and protein side chains and that, in turn, the code may be seen as the Rosetta stone for understanding RNA-protein interactions in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bojan Zagrovic
- Department of Structural and Computational BiologyMax F. Perutz LaboratoriesUniversity of ViennaAustria
| | - Lukas Bartonek
- Department of Structural and Computational BiologyMax F. Perutz LaboratoriesUniversity of ViennaAustria
| | - Anton A. Polyansky
- Department of Structural and Computational BiologyMax F. Perutz LaboratoriesUniversity of ViennaAustria,MM Shemyakin and Yu A Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic ChemistryRussian Academy of SciencesMoscowRussia
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22
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Svidritskiy E, Demo G, Korostelev AA. Mechanism of premature translation termination on a sense codon. J Biol Chem 2018; 293:12472-12479. [PMID: 29941456 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.aw118.003232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Accurate translation termination by release factors (RFs) is critical for the integrity of cellular proteomes. Premature termination on sense codons, for example, results in truncated proteins, whose accumulation could be detrimental to the cell. Nevertheless, some sense codons are prone to triggering premature termination, but the structural basis for this is unclear. To investigate premature termination, we determined a cryo-EM structure of the Escherichia coli 70S ribosome bound with RF1 in response to a UAU (Tyr) sense codon. The structure reveals that RF1 recognizes a UAU codon similarly to a UAG stop codon, suggesting that sense codons induce premature termination because they structurally mimic a stop codon. Hydrophobic interaction between the nucleobase of U3 (the third position of the UAU codon) and conserved Ile-196 in RF1 is important for misreading the UAU codon. Analyses of RNA binding in ribonucleoprotein complexes or by amino acids reveal that Ile-U packing is a frequent protein-RNA-binding motif with key functional implications. We discuss parallels with eukaryotic translation termination by the release factor eRF1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Egor Svidritskiy
- From the RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605
| | - Gabriel Demo
- From the RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605
| | - Andrei A Korostelev
- From the RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605
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Cheng X, Shkel IA, Molzahn C, Lambert D, Karim R, Record MT. Quantifying Interactions of Nucleobase Atoms with Model Compounds for the Peptide Backbone and Glutamine and Asparagine Side Chains in Water. Biochemistry 2018. [PMID: 29533642 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.8b00087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Alkylureas display hydrocarbon and amide groups, the primary functional groups of proteins. To obtain the thermodynamic information that is needed to analyze interactions of amides and proteins with nucleobases and nucleic acids, we quantify preferential interactions of alkylureas with nucleobases differing in the amount and composition of water-accessible surface area (ASA) by solubility assays. Using an established additive ASA-based analysis, we interpret these thermodynamic results to determine interactions of each alkylurea with five types of nucleobase unified atoms (carbonyl sp2O, amino sp3N, ring sp2N, methyl sp3C, and ring sp2C). All alkylureas interact favorably with nucleobase sp2C and sp3C atoms; these interactions become more favorable with an increasing level of alkylation of urea. Interactions with nucleobase sp2O are most favorable for urea, less favorable for methylurea and ethylurea, and unfavorable for dialkylated ureas. Contributions to overall alkylurea-nucleobase interactions from interactions with each nucleobase atom type are proportional to the ASA of that atom type with proportionality constant (interaction strength) α, as observed previously for urea. Trends in α-values for interactions of alkylureas with nucleobase atom types parallel those for corresponding amide compound atom types, offset because nucleobase α-values are more favorable. Comparisons between ethylated and methylated ureas show interactions of amide compound sp3C with nucleobase sp2C, sp3C, sp2N, and sp3N atoms are favorable while amide sp3C-nucleobase sp2O interactions are unfavorable. Strongly favorable interactions of urea with nucleobase sp2O but weakly favorable interactions with nucleobase sp3N indicate that amide sp2N-nucleobase sp2O and nucleobase sp3N-amide sp2O hydrogen bonding (NH···O═C) interactions are favorable while amide sp2N-nucleobase sp3N interactions are unfavorable. These favorable amide-nucleobase hydrogen bonding interactions are prevalent in specific protein-nucleotide complexes.
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Koonin EV, Wolf YI, Katsnelson MI. Inevitability of the emergence and persistence of genetic parasites caused by evolutionary instability of parasite-free states. Biol Direct 2017; 12:31. [PMID: 29202832 PMCID: PMC5715634 DOI: 10.1186/s13062-017-0202-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2017] [Accepted: 11/22/2017] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Genetic parasites, including viruses and mobile genetic elements, are ubiquitous among cellular life forms, and moreover, are the most abundant biological entities on earth that harbor the bulk of the genetic diversity. Here we examine simple thought experiments to demonstrate that both the emergence of parasites in simple replicator systems and their persistence in evolving life forms are inevitable because the putative parasite-free states are evolutionarily unstable. REVIEWERS This article has been reviewed by Yitzhak Pilpel, Bojan Zagrovic, and Eric van Nimwegen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugene V Koonin
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20894, USA.
| | - Yuri I Wolf
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20894, USA
| | - Mikhail I Katsnelson
- Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, 6525AJ, Nijmegen, Netherlands
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25
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de Ruiter A, Polyansky AA, Zagrovic B. Dependence of Binding Free Energies between RNA Nucleobases and Protein Side Chains on Local Dielectric Properties. J Chem Theory Comput 2017; 13:4504-4513. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.6b01202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Anita de Ruiter
- Department of Structural
and Computational Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, Vienna A-1030, Austria
| | - Anton A. Polyansky
- Department of Structural
and Computational Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, Vienna A-1030, Austria
| | - Bojan Zagrovic
- Department of Structural
and Computational Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, Vienna A-1030, Austria
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26
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mRNA/protein sequence complementarity and its determinants: The impact of affinity scales. PLoS Comput Biol 2017; 13:e1005648. [PMID: 28750009 PMCID: PMC5549747 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2017] [Revised: 08/08/2017] [Accepted: 06/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
It has recently been demonstrated that the nucleobase-density profiles of mRNA coding sequences are related in a complementary manner to the nucleobase-affinity profiles of their cognate protein sequences. Based on this, it has been proposed that cognate mRNA/protein pairs may bind in a co-aligned manner, especially if unstructured. Here, we study the dependence of mRNA/protein sequence complementarity on the properties of the nucleobase/amino-acid affinity scales used. Specifically, we sample the space of randomly generated scales by employing a Monte Carlo strategy with a fitness function that depends directly on the level of complementarity. For model organisms representing all three domains of life, we show that even short searches reproducibly converge upon highly optimized scales, implying that the topology of the underlying fitness landscape is decidedly funnel-like. Furthermore, the optimized scales, generated without any consideration of the physicochemical attributes of nucleobases or amino acids, resemble closely the nucleobase/amino-acid binding affinity scales obtained from experimental structures of RNA-protein complexes. This provides support for the claim that mRNA/protein sequence complementarity may indeed be related to binding between the two. Finally, we characterize suboptimal scales and show that intermediate-to-high complementarity can be reached by substantially diverse scales, but with select amino acids contributing disproportionally. Our results expose the dependence of cognate mRNA/protein sequence complementarity on the properties of the underlying nucleobase/amino-acid affinity scales and provide quantitative constraints that any physical scales need to satisfy for the complementarity to hold. Messenger RNAs and proteins, two essential types of biopolymers, have recently been shown to exhibit closely related, complementary physicochemical properties. Specifically, density profiles of certain groups in messenger RNA sequences directly match the affinity profiles for precisely those groups in protein sequences they encode. Based on this, it has been suggested that these molecules may interact with each other specifically and in a co-aligned fashion, especially when unstructured. Here, we explore different amino-acid scales used in the above analysis to assess which of their properties dictate the observed matching. Specifically, we define the constraints that need to be satisfied by physical scales for the complementarity to hold and show that the previously derived nucleobase/amino-acid affinity scales indeed satisfy these constraints. As a whole, our work provides a quantitative foundation for understanding the putative messenger RNA/protein complementarity with implications in different areas of RNA/protein biology including transcription, translation, splicing and viral assembly.
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27
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Andrews CT, Campbell BA, Elcock AH. Direct Comparison of Amino Acid and Salt Interactions with Double-Stranded and Single-Stranded DNA from Explicit-Solvent Molecular Dynamics Simulations. J Chem Theory Comput 2017; 13:1794-1811. [PMID: 28288277 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.6b00883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Given the ubiquitous nature of protein-DNA interactions, it is important to understand the interaction thermodynamics of individual amino acid side chains for DNA. One way to assess these preferences is to perform molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Here we report MD simulations of 20 amino acid side chain analogs interacting simultaneously with both a 70-base-pair double-stranded DNA and with a 70-nucleotide single-stranded DNA. The relative preferences of the amino acid side chains for dsDNA and ssDNA match well with values deduced from crystallographic analyses of protein-DNA complexes. The estimated apparent free energies of interaction for ssDNA, on the other hand, correlate well with previous simulation values reported for interactions with isolated nucleobases, and with experimental values reported for interactions with guanosine. Comparisons of the interactions with dsDNA and ssDNA indicate that, with the exception of the positively charged side chains, all types of amino acid side chain interact more favorably with ssDNA, with intercalation of aromatic and aliphatic side chains being especially notable. Analysis of the data on a base-by-base basis indicates that positively charged side chains, as well as sodium ions, preferentially bind to cytosine in ssDNA, and that negatively charged side chains, and chloride ions, preferentially bind to guanine in ssDNA. These latter observations provide a novel explanation for the lower salt dependence of DNA duplex stability in GC-rich sequences relative to AT-rich sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Casey T Andrews
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Iowa , Iowa City, Iowa 52242, United States
| | - Brady A Campbell
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Iowa , Iowa City, Iowa 52242, United States
| | - Adrian H Elcock
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Iowa , Iowa City, Iowa 52242, United States
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28
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Stasyuk OA, Jakubec D, Vondrášek J, Hobza P. Noncovalent Interactions in Specific Recognition Motifs of Protein-DNA Complexes. J Chem Theory Comput 2017; 13:877-885. [PMID: 27992205 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.6b00775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
In view of the importance of protein-DNA interactions in biological processes, we extracted from the Protein Data Bank several one-to-one complexes of amino acids with nucleotides that matched certain geometric and energetic specificity criteria and investigated them using quantum chemistry methods. The CCSD(T)/CBS interaction energies were used as a benchmark to compare the performance of the MP2.5, MP2-F12, DFT-D3, and PM6-D3H4 methods. All methods yielded good agreement with the reference values, with declining accuracy from MP2.5 to PM6-D3H4. Regardless of the site of interaction, the minima found after full optimization in implicit solvent with high dielectric constant were close to the structures experimentally detected in protein-DNA complexes. According to DFT-SAPT analysis, the nature of noncovalent interactions strongly depends on the type of amino acid. The negatively charged sugar-phosphate backbone of DNA heavily influences the strength of interactions and must be included in the computational model, especially in the case of interactions with charged amino acids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga A Stasyuk
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic , Flemingovo nám. 2, 166 10 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - David Jakubec
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic , Flemingovo nám. 2, 166 10 Prague, Czech Republic.,Department of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague , Albertov 6, 128 43 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Vondrášek
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic , Flemingovo nám. 2, 166 10 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Hobza
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic , Flemingovo nám. 2, 166 10 Prague, Czech Republic.,Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Department of Physical Chemistry, Palacký University , 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
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29
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Darré L, Ivani I, Dans PD, Gómez H, Hospital A, Orozco M. Small Details Matter: The 2′-Hydroxyl as a Conformational Switch in RNA. J Am Chem Soc 2016; 138:16355-16363. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b09471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Darré
- Institute
for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Joint
BSC-IRB Program in Computational Biology, Institute for Research in Biomedicine, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ivan Ivani
- Institute
for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Joint
BSC-IRB Program in Computational Biology, Institute for Research in Biomedicine, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pablo D. Dans
- Institute
for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Joint
BSC-IRB Program in Computational Biology, Institute for Research in Biomedicine, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Hansel Gómez
- Institute
for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Joint
BSC-IRB Program in Computational Biology, Institute for Research in Biomedicine, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Adam Hospital
- Institute
for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Joint
BSC-IRB Program in Computational Biology, Institute for Research in Biomedicine, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Modesto Orozco
- Institute
for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Joint
BSC-IRB Program in Computational Biology, Institute for Research in Biomedicine, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Department
of Biochemistry and Biomedicine, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
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30
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Binding affinity models for Falcipain inhibition based on the Linear Interaction Energy method. J Mol Graph Model 2016; 70:236-245. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2016.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2016] [Revised: 06/06/2016] [Accepted: 06/15/2016] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
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31
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Jakubec D, Laskowski RA, Vondrasek J. Sequence-Specific Recognition of DNA by Proteins: Binding Motifs Discovered Using a Novel Statistical/Computational Analysis. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0158704. [PMID: 27384774 PMCID: PMC4934765 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2016] [Accepted: 06/21/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Decades of intensive experimental studies of the recognition of DNA sequences by proteins have provided us with a view of a diverse and complicated world in which few to no features are shared between individual DNA-binding protein families. The originally conceived direct readout of DNA residue sequences by amino acid side chains offers very limited capacity for sequence recognition, while the effects of the dynamic properties of the interacting partners remain difficult to quantify and almost impossible to generalise. In this work we investigated the energetic characteristics of all DNA residue—amino acid side chain combinations in the conformations found at the interaction interface in a very large set of protein—DNA complexes by the means of empirical potential-based calculations. General specificity-defining criteria were derived and utilised to look beyond the binding motifs considered in previous studies. Linking energetic favourability to the observed geometrical preferences, our approach reveals several additional amino acid motifs which can distinguish between individual DNA bases. Our results remained valid in environments with various dielectric properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Jakubec
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Prague 6, Czech Republic
- Department of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Roman A. Laskowski
- EMBL-EBI, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Jiri Vondrasek
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Prague 6, Czech Republic
- * E-mail:
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32
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Hajnic M, Ruiter AD, Polyansky AA, Zagrovic B. Inosine Nucleobase Acts as Guanine in Interactions with Protein Side Chains. J Am Chem Soc 2016; 138:5519-22. [PMID: 27093234 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b02417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
A central intermediate in purine catabolism, the inosine nucleobase hypoxanthine is also one of the most abundant modified nucleobases in RNA and plays key roles in the regulation of gene expression and determination of cell fate. It is known that hypoxanthine acts as guanine when interacting with other nucleobases and base pairs most favorably with cytosine. However, its preferences when it comes to interactions with amino acids remain unknown. Here we present for the first time the absolute binding free energies and the associated interaction modes between hypoxanthine and all standard, non-glycyl/non-prolyl amino acid side chain analogs as derived from molecular dynamics simulations and umbrella sampling in high- and low-dielectric environments. We illustrate the biological relevance of the derived affinities by providing a quantitative explanation for the specificity of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase, a key enzyme in the purine salvage pathway. Our results demonstrate that in its affinities for protein side chains, hypoxanthine closely matches guanine, much more so than its precursor adenine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matea Hajnic
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna , Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, Vienna A-1030, Austria
| | - Anita de Ruiter
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna , Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, Vienna A-1030, Austria
| | - Anton A Polyansky
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna , Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, Vienna A-1030, Austria
| | - Bojan Zagrovic
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna , Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, Vienna A-1030, Austria
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33
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Dans PD, Walther J, Gómez H, Orozco M. Multiscale simulation of DNA. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2016; 37:29-45. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2015.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2015] [Revised: 11/23/2015] [Accepted: 11/25/2015] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
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34
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Cannon JGD, Sherman RM, Wang VMY, Newman GA. Cross-species conservation of complementary amino acid-ribonucleobase interactions and their potential for ribosome-free encoding. Sci Rep 2015; 5:18054. [PMID: 26656258 PMCID: PMC4674897 DOI: 10.1038/srep18054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2015] [Accepted: 11/02/2015] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The role of amino acid-RNA nucleobase interactions in the evolution of RNA translation and protein-mRNA autoregulation remains an open area of research. We describe the inference of pairwise amino acid-RNA nucleobase interaction preferences using structural data from known RNA-protein complexes. We observed significant matching between an amino acid’s nucleobase affinity and corresponding codon content in both the standard genetic code and mitochondrial variants. Furthermore, we showed that knowledge of nucleobase preferences allows statistically significant prediction of protein primary sequence from mRNA using purely physiochemical information. Interestingly, ribosomal primary sequences were more accurately predicted than non-ribosomal sequences, suggesting a potential role for direct amino acid-nucleobase interactions in the genesis of amino acid-based ribosomal components. Finally, we observed matching between amino acid-nucleobase affinities and corresponding mRNA sequences in 35 evolutionarily diverse proteomes. We believe these results have important implications for the study of the evolutionary origins of the genetic code and protein-mRNA cross-regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- John G D Cannon
- Department of Biology, Carleton College, 1 College Street, Northfield MN, 55057, United States
| | - Rachel M Sherman
- Department of Biology, Harvey Mudd College, 301 Platt Blvd, Claremont CA 91711, United States.,Department of Computer Science, Harvey Mudd College, 301 Platt Blvd, Claremont CA 91711, United States
| | - Victoria M Y Wang
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, 80 Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, United Kingdom
| | - Grace A Newman
- Department of Mathematics, Carleton College, 1 College Street, Northfield MN, 55057, United States
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35
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Altstein AD. The progene hypothesis: the nucleoprotein world and how life began. Biol Direct 2015; 10:67. [PMID: 26612610 PMCID: PMC4662029 DOI: 10.1186/s13062-015-0096-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2015] [Accepted: 11/13/2015] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In this article, I review the results of studies on the origin of life distinct from the popular RNA world hypothesis. The alternate scenario postulates the origin of the first bimolecular genetic system (a polynucleotide gene and a polypeptide processive polymerase) with simultaneous replication and translation and includes the following key features: 1. The bimolecular genetic system emerges not from mononucleotides and monoamino acids, but from progenes, namely, trinucleotides aminoacylated on 3'-end by a non-random amino acid (NpNpNp ~ pX ~ Aa, where N--deoxyribo- or ribonucleoside, p--phosphate, X--a bifunctional agent, for example ribose, Aa--amino acid, ~ macroerge bond). Progenes are used as substrates for simultaneous synthesis of a polynucleotide and a polypeptide. Growth of the system is controlled by the growing polypeptide, and the bimolecular genetic system emerges as an extremely rare event. The first living being (virus-like organism protoviroid, Protoviroidum primum) arises and reproduces in prebiotic liposome-like structures using progenes. A population of protoviroids possessing the genetic system evolves in accordance with the Darwinian principle. Early evolution from protoviroid world to protocell world is shortly described. 2. The progene forming mechanism (NpNp + Np ~ pX ~ Aa) makes it possible to explain the emergence of the prebiotic physicochemical group genetic code, as well as the selection of organic compounds for the future genetic system from the racemic environment. 3. The protoviroid is reproduced on a progene basis via replicative transcription-translation (RTT, the first molecular genetic process) that is similar to its modern counterparts. Nothing is required for the emergence and reproduction of the protoviroid except for progenes and conditions for their formation. 4. The general scheme of early evolution is as follows: prebiotic world → protoviroid (nucleoprotein) world → protocell (DNA-RNA-protein) world → LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor) → modern cell world. This scheme exclude the existence of an independent RNA world as predecessor of the cellular world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anatoly D Altstein
- Institute of Gene Biology RAS, NF Gamaleya Federal Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, IM Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia.
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36
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Hajnic M, Osorio JI, Zagrovic B. Interaction preferences between nucleobase mimetics and amino acids in aqueous solutions. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2015. [PMID: 26219945 DOI: 10.1039/c5cp01486g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Despite the paramount importance of protein-nucleic acid interactions in different cellular processes, our understanding of such interactions at the atomistic level remains incomplete. We have used molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and 15 μs of sampling time to study the behavior of amino acids and amino-acid sidechain analogs in aqueous solutions of different mimetics of naturally occurring nucleobases, including dimethylpyridine (DMP) and unsubstituted purine and pyrimidine rings. By using structural and energetic analysis, we have derived preference scales for the interaction of amino acids and their sidechain analogs with different nucleobase mimetics and have exhaustively compared them with each other. A close correspondence with a standard hydrophobicity measure in the case of the pyrimidine mimetic DMP and purines suggests that the hydrophobic effect is the main defining factor behind such interactions. We analyze our findings in the context of the origin of the genetic code and the recently proposed cognate mRNA-protein complementarity hypothesis. Most importantly, we show that unsubstituted purine and pyrimidine rings alone cannot differentiate between predominantly purine- and pyrimidine-coded amino acids, suggesting that for such specificity to exist, it must primarily reside in ring substituents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matea Hajnic
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, Vienna 1030, Austria.
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37
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Hlevnjak M, Zagrovic B. Malleable nature of mRNA-protein compositional complementarity and its functional significance. Nucleic Acids Res 2015; 43:3012-21. [PMID: 25753660 PMCID: PMC4381073 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkv166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2014] [Accepted: 02/22/2015] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
It has recently been demonstrated that nucleobase-density profiles of typical mRNA coding sequences exhibit a complementary relationship with nucleobase-interaction propensity profiles of their cognate protein sequences. This finding supports the idea that the genetic code developed in response to direct binding interactions between amino acids and appropriate nucleobases, but also suggests that present-day mRNAs and their cognate proteins may be physicochemically complementary to each other and bind. Here, we computationally recode complete Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, Escherichia coli and Homo sapiens mRNA transcriptomes and analyze how much complementary matching of synonymous mRNAs can vary, while keeping protein sequences fixed. We show that for most proteins there exist cognate mRNAs that improve, but also significantly worsen the level of native matching (e.g. by 1.8 viz. 7.6 standard deviations on average for H. sapiens, respectively), with the least malleable proteins in this sense being strongly enriched in nuclear localization and DNA-binding functions. Even so, we show that the majority of recodings for most proteins result in pronounced complementarity. Our results suggest that the genetic code was designed for favorable, yet tunable compositional complementarity between mRNAs and their cognate proteins, supporting the hypothesis that the interactions between the two were an important defining element behind the code's origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Hlevnjak
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Bojan Zagrovic
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, 1030 Vienna, Austria
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