1
|
Giese TJ, Zeng J, Lerew L, McCarthy E, Tao Y, Ekesan Ş, York DM. Software Infrastructure for Next-Generation QM/MM-ΔMLP Force Fields. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:6257-6271. [PMID: 38905451 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.4c01466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/23/2024]
Abstract
We present software infrastructure for the design and testing of new quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical and machine-learning potential (QM/MM-ΔMLP) force fields for a wide range of applications. The software integrates Amber's molecular dynamics simulation capabilities with fast, approximate quantum models in the xtb package and machine-learning potential corrections in DeePMD-kit. The xtb package implements the recently developed density-functional tight-binding QM models with multipolar electrostatics and density-dependent dispersion (GFN2-xTB), and the interface with Amber enables their use in periodic boundary QM/MM simulations with linear-scaling QM/MM particle-mesh Ewald electrostatics. The accuracy of the semiempirical models is enhanced by including machine-learning correction potentials (ΔMLPs) enabled through an interface with the DeePMD-kit software. The goal of this paper is to present and validate the implementation of this software infrastructure in molecular dynamics and free energy simulations. The utility of the new infrastructure is demonstrated in proof-of-concept example applications. The software elements presented here are open source and freely available. Their interface provides a powerful enabling technology for the design of new QM/MM-ΔMLP models for studying a wide range of problems, including biomolecular reactivity and protein-ligand binding.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Timothy J Giese
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States
| | - Jinzhe Zeng
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States
| | - Lauren Lerew
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States
| | - Erika McCarthy
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States
| | - Yujun Tao
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States
| | - Şölen Ekesan
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States
| | - Darrin M York
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Tao Y, Giese TJ, Ekesan Ş, Zeng J, Aradi B, Hourahine B, Aktulga HM, Götz AW, Merz KM, York DM. Amber free energy tools: Interoperable software for free energy simulations using generalized quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical and machine learning potentials. J Chem Phys 2024; 160:224104. [PMID: 38856060 DOI: 10.1063/5.0211276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/11/2024] Open
Abstract
We report the development and testing of new integrated cyberinfrastructure for performing free energy simulations with generalized hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) and machine learning potentials (MLPs) in Amber. The Sander molecular dynamics program has been extended to leverage fast, density-functional tight-binding models implemented in the DFTB+ and xTB packages, and an interface to the DeePMD-kit software enables the use of MLPs. The software is integrated through application program interfaces that circumvent the need to perform "system calls" and enable the incorporation of long-range Ewald electrostatics into the external software's self-consistent field procedure. The infrastructure provides access to QM/MM models that may serve as the foundation for QM/MM-ΔMLP potentials, which supplement the semiempirical QM/MM model with a MLP correction trained to reproduce ab initio QM/MM energies and forces. Efficient optimization of minimum free energy pathways is enabled through a new surface-accelerated finite-temperature string method implemented in the FE-ToolKit package. Furthermore, we interfaced Sander with the i-PI software by implementing the socket communication protocol used in the i-PI client-server model. The new interface with i-PI allows for the treatment of nuclear quantum effects with semiempirical QM/MM-ΔMLP models. The modular interoperable software is demonstrated on proton transfer reactions in guanine-thymine mispairs in a B-form deoxyribonucleic acid helix. The current work represents a considerable advance in the development of modular software for performing free energy simulations of chemical reactions that are important in a wide range of applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yujun Tao
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
| | - Timothy J Giese
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
| | - Şölen Ekesan
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
| | - Jinzhe Zeng
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
| | - Bálint Aradi
- Bremen Center for Computational Materials Science, University of Bremen, D-28334 Bremen, Germany
| | - Ben Hourahine
- SUPA, Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, United Kingdom
| | - Hasan Metin Aktulga
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - Andreas W Götz
- San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
| | - Kenneth M Merz
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - Darrin M York
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Tao Y, Giese TJ, York DM. Electronic and Nuclear Quantum Effects on Proton Transfer Reactions of Guanine-Thymine (G-T) Mispairs Using Combined Quantum Mechanical/Molecular Mechanical and Machine Learning Potentials. Molecules 2024; 29:2703. [PMID: 38893576 PMCID: PMC11173453 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29112703] [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: 05/01/2024] [Revised: 05/30/2024] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Rare tautomeric forms of nucleobases can lead to Watson-Crick-like (WC-like) mispairs in DNA, but the process of proton transfer is fast and difficult to detect experimentally. NMR studies show evidence for the existence of short-time WC-like guanine-thymine (G-T) mispairs; however, the mechanism of proton transfer and the degree to which nuclear quantum effects play a role are unclear. We use a B-DNA helix exhibiting a wGT mispair as a model system to study tautomerization reactions. We perform ab initio (PBE0/6-31G*) quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) simulations to examine the free energy surface for tautomerization. We demonstrate that while the ab initio QM/MM simulations are accurate, considerable sampling is required to achieve high precision in the free energy barriers. To address this problem, we develop a QM/MM machine learning potential correction (QM/MM-ΔMLP) that is able to improve the computational efficiency, greatly extend the accessible time scales of the simulations, and enable practical application of path integral molecular dynamics to examine nuclear quantum effects. We find that the inclusion of nuclear quantum effects has only a modest effect on the mechanistic pathway but leads to a considerable lowering of the free energy barrier for the GT*⇌G*T equilibrium. Our results enable a rationalization of observed experimental data and the prediction of populations of rare tautomeric forms of nucleobases and rates of their interconversion in B-DNA.
Collapse
|
4
|
Zhang F, Shi W, Guo L, Liu S, He J. The Programmable Catalytic Core of 8-17 DNAzymes. Molecules 2024; 29:2420. [PMID: 38893308 PMCID: PMC11173380 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29112420] [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: 04/27/2024] [Revised: 05/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
8-17 DNAzymes (8-17, 17E, Mg5, and 17EV1) are in vitro-selected catalytic DNA molecules that are capable of cleaving complementary RNAs. The conserved residues in their similar catalytic cores, together with the metal ions, were suggested to contribute to the catalytic reaction. Based on the contribution of the less conserved residues in the bulge loop residues (W12, A15, A15.0) and the internal stem, new catalytic cores of 8-17 DNAzymes were programmed. The internal stem CTC-GAG seems to be more favorable for the DNAzymes than CCG-GGC, while an extra W12.0 led to a significant loss of activity of DNAzymes, which is contrary to the positive effect of A15.0, by which a new active DNAzyme 17EM was derived. It conducts a faster reaction than 17E. It is most active in the presence of Pb2+, with the metal ion preference of Pb2+ >> Zn2+ > Mn2+ > Ca2+ ≈ Mg2+. In the Pb2+ and Zn2+-mediated reactions of 17EM and 17E, the same Na+- and pH dependence were also observed as what was observed for 17E and other 8-17 DNAzymes. Therefore, 17EM is another member of the 8-17 DNAzymes, and it could be applied as a potential biosensor for RNA and metal ions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fumei Zhang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China;
- Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Taiping 27, Beijing 100850, China; (W.S.); (L.G.)
| | - Weiguo Shi
- Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Taiping 27, Beijing 100850, China; (W.S.); (L.G.)
| | - Lei Guo
- Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Taiping 27, Beijing 100850, China; (W.S.); (L.G.)
| | - Shihui Liu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China;
| | - Junlin He
- Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Taiping 27, Beijing 100850, China; (W.S.); (L.G.)
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Wieruszewska J, Pawłowicz A, Połomska E, Pasternak K, Gdaniec Z, Andrałojć W. The 8-17 DNAzyme can operate in a single active structure regardless of metal ion cofactor. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4218. [PMID: 38760331 PMCID: PMC11101458 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48638-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024] Open
Abstract
DNAzymes - synthetic enzymes made of DNA - have long attracted attention as RNA-targeting therapeutic agents. Yet, as of now, no DNAzyme-based drug has been approved, partially due to our lacking understanding of their molecular mode of action. In this work we report the solution structure of 8-17 DNAzyme bound to a Zn2+ ion solved through NMR spectroscopy. Surprisingly, it turned out to be very similar to the previously solved Pb2+-bound form (catalytic domain RMSD = 1.28 Å), despite a long-standing literature consensus that Pb2+ recruits a different DNAzyme fold than other metal ion cofactors. Our follow-up NMR investigations in the presence of other ions - Mg2+, Na+, and Pb2+ - suggest that at DNAzyme concentrations used in NMR all these ions induce a similar tertiary fold. Based on these findings, we propose a model for 8-17 DNAzyme interactions with metal ions postulating the existence of only a single catalytically-active structure, yet populated to a different extent depending on the metal ion cofactor. Our results provide structural information on the 8-17 DNAzyme in presence of non-Pb2+ cofactors, including the biologically relevant Mg2+ ion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Julia Wieruszewska
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704, Poznań, Noskowskiego, 12/14, Poland
| | - Aleksandra Pawłowicz
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704, Poznań, Noskowskiego, 12/14, Poland
| | - Ewa Połomska
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704, Poznań, Noskowskiego, 12/14, Poland
| | - Karol Pasternak
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704, Poznań, Noskowskiego, 12/14, Poland
| | - Zofia Gdaniec
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704, Poznań, Noskowskiego, 12/14, Poland
| | - Witold Andrałojć
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704, Poznań, Noskowskiego, 12/14, Poland.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Dantu SC, Khalil M, Bria M, Saint-Pierre C, Orio M, Gasparutto D, Sicoli G. Cleaving DNA with DNA: Cooperative Tuning of Structure and Reactivity Driven by Copper Ions. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2024; 11:e2306710. [PMID: 38419268 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202306710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
A copper-dependent self-cleaving DNA (DNAzyme or deoyxyribozyme) previously isolated by in vitro selection has been analyzed by a combination of Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations and advanced Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (Electron Spin Resonance) EPR/ESR spectroscopy, providing insights on the structural and mechanistic features of the cleavage reaction. The modeled 46-nucleotide deoxyribozyme in MD simulations forms duplex and triplex sub-structures that flank a highly conserved catalytic core. The DNA self-cleaving construct can also form a bimolecular complex that has a distinct substrate and enzyme domains. The highly dynamic structure combined with an oxidative site-specific cleavage of the substrate are two key-aspects to elucidate. By combining EPR/ESR spectroscopy with selectively isotopically labeled nucleotides it has been possible to overcome the major drawback related to the "metal-soup" scenario, also known as "super-stoichiometric" ratios of cofactors versus substrate, conventionally required for the DNA cleavage reaction within those nucleic acids-based enzymes. The focus on the endogenous paramagnetic center (Cu2+) here described paves the way for analysis on mixtures where several different cofactors are involved. Furthermore, the insertion of cleavage reaction within more complex architectures is now a realistic perspective towards the applicability of EPR/ESR spectroscopic studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sarath Chandra Dantu
- Department of Computer Science, Brunel University London, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, UK
| | - Mahdi Khalil
- LASIRE, CNRS UMR 8516, University of Lille, C4 building, Avenue Paul Langevin, Villeneuve d'Ascq, F-59655, France
| | - Marc Bria
- Michle-Eugène Chevreul Institute, FR 2638, Avenue Paul Langevin, Villeneuve d'Ascq, F-59655, France
| | - Christine Saint-Pierre
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, CNRS, UMR 5819 SyMMES-CREAB, Avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble, F-38000, France
| | - Maylis Orio
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, iSm2, UMR CNRS 7313, Marseille, 13397, France
| | - Didier Gasparutto
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, CNRS, UMR 5819 SyMMES-CREAB, Avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble, F-38000, France
| | - Giuseppe Sicoli
- LASIRE, CNRS UMR 8516, University of Lille, C4 building, Avenue Paul Langevin, Villeneuve d'Ascq, F-59655, France
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Wang R, Yu L, He W, Wu Z, Jiang JH. Chemically Inducible DNAzyme Sensor for Controllable Imaging of Metal Ions. Anal Chem 2024; 96:1268-1274. [PMID: 38193766 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c04523] [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: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
RNA-cleaving DNAzymes have emerged as a promising tool for metal ion detection. Achieving spatiotemporal control over their catalytic activity is essential for understanding the role of metal ions in various biological processes. While photochemical and endogenous stimuli-responsive approaches have shown potential for controlled metal ion imaging using DNAzymes, limitations such as photocytotoxicity, poor tissue penetration, or off-target activation have hindered their application for safe and precise detection of metal ions in vivo. We herein report a chemically inducible DNAzyme in which the catalytic core is modified to contain chemical caging groups at the selected backbone sites through systematic screening. This inducible DNAzyme exhibits minimal leakage of catalytic activity and can be reactivated by small molecule selenocysteines, which effectively remove the caging groups and restore the activity of DNAzyme. Benefiting from these findings, we designed a fluorogenic chemically inducible DNAzyme sensor for controlled imaging of metal ions with tunable activity and high selectivity in live cells and in vivo. This chemically inducible DNAzyme design expands the toolbox for controlling DNAzyme activity and can be easily adapted to detect other metal ions in vivo by changing the DNAzyme module, offering opportunities for precise biomedical diagnosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Lanxing Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Wenhan He
- State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Zhenkun Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Jian-Hui Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Amini SK, Bashirbanaem P. Evidences for reaction mechanism of 9DB1 DNA catalyst. Int J Biol Macromol 2023; 253:126710. [PMID: 37690649 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2023] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 09/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023]
Abstract
The first reported reaction mechanism of a DNAzyme, i.e. 9DB1, by using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations includes some ambiguities. We try to overcome some of these ambiguous aspects such as the role of mono and divalent metal ions and observed metal rescue effects by surveying the role of functional groups of original 9DB1 and a variety of its rate conserving and rate decreasing mutations via MD simulations. Conformational differences of these two distinct groups are responsible for their opposite rate trends. Blocking of the OH3' of acceptor nucleotide from effective attack by its hydrogen bond to O4' of donor nucleotide is observed in rate decreasing mutations. Our simulations manifest the role of Na+ and Mg2+ ions in bringing close to each other the ligated atoms. These findings along with observed conformational changes explain carefully the reported metal rescue effects for some phosphate groups.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Saeed K Amini
- Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Research Centre of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
| | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Yoon S, Ollie E, York DM, Piccirilli JA, Harris ME. Rapid Kinetics of Pistol Ribozyme: Insights into Limits to RNA Catalysis. Biochemistry 2023. [PMID: 37294744 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.3c00160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Pistol ribozyme (Psr) is a distinct class of small endonucleolytic ribozymes, which are important experimental systems for defining fundamental principles of RNA catalysis and designing valuable tools in biotechnology. High-resolution structures of Psr, extensive structure-function studies, and computation support a mechanism involving one or more catalytic guanosine nucleobases acting as a general base and divalent metal ion-bound water acting as an acid to catalyze RNA 2'-O-transphosphorylation. Yet, for a wide range of pH and metal ion concentrations, the rate of Psr catalysis is too fast to measure manually and the reaction steps that limit catalysis are not well understood. Here, we use stopped-flow fluorescence spectroscopy to evaluate Psr temperature dependence, solvent H/D isotope effects, and divalent metal ion affinity and specificity unconstrained by limitations due to fast kinetics. The results show that Psr catalysis is characterized by small apparent activation enthalpy and entropy changes and minimal transition state H/D fractionation, suggesting that one or more pre-equilibrium steps rather than chemistry is rate limiting. Quantitative analyses of divalent ion dependence confirm that metal aquo ion pKa correlates with higher rates of catalysis independent of differences in ion binding affinity. However, ambiguity regarding the rate-limiting step and similar correlation with related attributes such as ionic radius and hydration free energy complicate a definitive mechanistic interpretation. These new data provide a framework for further interrogation of Psr transition state stabilization and show how thermal instability, metal ion insolubility at optimal pH, and pre-equilibrium steps such as ion binding and folding limit the catalytic power of Psr suggesting potential strategies for further optimization.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Suhyun Yoon
- Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
| | - Edward Ollie
- Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
| | - Darrin M York
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States
| | - Joseph A Piccirilli
- Department of Chemistry and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Michael E Harris
- Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Kim M, Jo H, Jung GY, Oh SS. Molecular Complementarity of Proteomimetic Materials for Target-Specific Recognition and Recognition-Mediated Complex Functions. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2023; 35:e2208309. [PMID: 36525617 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202208309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
As biomolecules essential for sustaining life, proteins are generated from long chains of 20 different α-amino acids that are folded into unique 3D structures. In particular, many proteins have molecular recognition functions owing to their binding pockets, which have complementary shapes, charges, and polarities for specific targets, making these biopolymers unique and highly valuable for biomedical and biocatalytic applications. Based on the understanding of protein structures and microenvironments, molecular complementarity can be exhibited by synthesizable and modifiable materials. This has prompted researchers to explore the proteomimetic potentials of a diverse range of materials, including biologically available peptides and oligonucleotides, synthetic supramolecules, inorganic molecules, and related coordination networks. To fully resemble a protein, proteomimetic materials perform the molecular recognition to mediate complex molecular functions, such as allosteric regulation, signal transduction, enzymatic reactions, and stimuli-responsive motions; this can also expand the landscape of their potential bio-applications. This review focuses on the recognitive aspects of proteomimetic designs derived for individual materials and their conformations. Recent progress provides insights to help guide the development of advanced protein mimicry with material heterogeneity, design modularity, and tailored functionality. The perspectives and challenges of current proteomimetic designs and tools are also discussed in relation to future applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Minsun Kim
- School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyesung Jo
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, South Korea
| | - Gyoo Yeol Jung
- School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, Republic of Korea
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, South Korea
| | - Seung Soo Oh
- School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, Republic of Korea
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, South Korea
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, South Korea
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
McCarthy E, Ekesan Ş, Giese TJ, Wilson TJ, Deng J, Huang L, Lilley DJ, York DM. Catalytic mechanism and pH dependence of a methyltransferase ribozyme (MTR1) from computational enzymology. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:4508-4518. [PMID: 37070188 PMCID: PMC10201425 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023] Open
Abstract
A methyltransferase ribozyme (MTR1) was selected in vitro to catalyze alkyl transfer from exogenous O6-methylguanine (O6mG) to a target adenine N1, and recently, high-resolution crystal structures have become available. We use a combination of classical molecular dynamics, ab initio quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) and alchemical free energy (AFE) simulations to elucidate the atomic-level solution mechanism of MTR1. Simulations identify an active reactant state involving protonation of C10 that hydrogen bonds with O6mG:N1. The deduced mechanism involves a stepwise mechanism with two transition states corresponding to proton transfer from C10:N3 to O6mG:N1 and rate-controlling methyl transfer (19.4 kcal·mol-1 barrier). AFE simulations predict the pKa for C10 to be 6.3, close to the experimental apparent pKa of 6.2, further implicating it as a critical general acid. The intrinsic rate derived from QM/MM simulations, together with pKa calculations, enables us to predict an activity-pH profile that agrees well with experiment. The insights gained provide further support for a putative RNA world and establish new design principles for RNA-based biochemical tools.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Erika McCarthy
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Şölen Ekesan
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Timothy J Giese
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Timothy J Wilson
- Nucleic Acid Structure Research Group, MSI/WTB Complex, The University of Dundee, Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, UK
| | - Jie Deng
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Guangdong–Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for RNA Medicine, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
- Medical Research Center, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - Lin Huang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Guangdong–Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for RNA Medicine, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
- Medical Research Center, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - David M J Lilley
- Nucleic Acid Structure Research Group, MSI/WTB Complex, The University of Dundee, Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, UK
| | - Darrin M York
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Zeng J, Tao Y, Giese TJ, York DM. QDπ: A Quantum Deep Potential Interaction Model for Drug Discovery. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:1261-1275. [PMID: 36696673 PMCID: PMC9992268 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c01172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
We report QDπ-v1.0 for modeling the internal energy of drug molecules containing H, C, N, and O atoms. The QDπ model is in the form of a quantum mechanical/machine learning potential correction (QM/Δ-MLP) that uses a fast third-order self-consistent density-functional tight-binding (DFTB3/3OB) model that is corrected to a quantitatively high-level of accuracy through a deep-learning potential (DeepPot-SE). The model has the advantage that it is able to properly treat electrostatic interactions and handle changes in charge/protonation states. The model is trained against reference data computed at the ωB97X/6-31G* level (as in the ANI-1x data set) and compared to several other approximate semiempirical and machine learning potentials (ANI-1x, ANI-2x, DFTB3, MNDO/d, AM1, PM6, GFN1-xTB, and GFN2-xTB). The QDπ model is demonstrated to be accurate for a wide range of intra- and intermolecular interactions (despite its intended use as an internal energy model) and has shown to perform exceptionally well for relative protonation/deprotonation energies and tautomers. An example application to model reactions involved in RNA strand cleavage catalyzed by protein and nucleic acid enzymes illustrates QDπ has average errors less than 0.5 kcal/mol, whereas the other models compared have errors over an order of magnitude greater. Taken together, this makes QDπ highly attractive as a potential force field model for drug discovery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jinzhe Zeng
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Yujun Tao
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Timothy J. Giese
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Darrin M. York
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Pine AC, Brooke GN, Marco A. A computational approach to identify efficient RNA cleaving 10-23 DNAzymes. NAR Genom Bioinform 2023; 5:lqac098. [PMID: 36632612 PMCID: PMC9830538 DOI: 10.1093/nargab/lqac098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
DNAzymes are short pieces of DNA with catalytic activity, capable of cleaving RNA. DNAzymes have multiple applications as biosensors and in therapeutics. The high specificity and low toxicity of these molecules make them particularly suitable as therapeutics, and clinical trials have shown that they are effective in patients. However, the development of DNAzymes has been limited due to the lack of specific tools to identify efficient molecules, and users often resort to time-consuming/costly large-scale screens. Here, we propose a computational methodology to identify 10-23 DNAzymes that can be used to triage thousands of potential molecules, specific to a target RNA, to identify those that are predicted to be efficient. The method is based on a logistic regression and can be trained to incorporate additional DNAzyme efficiency data, improving its performance with time. We first trained the method with published data, and then we validated, and further refined it, by testing additional newly synthesized DNAzymes in the laboratory. We found that although binding free energy between the DNAzyme and its RNA target is the primary determinant of efficiency, other factors such as internal structure of the DNAzyme also have an important effect. A program implementing the proposed method is publicly available.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Angela C Pine
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK
| | - Greg N Brooke
- Correspondence may also be addressed to Greg N. Brooke.
| | - Antonio Marco
- To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +44 1206 87 3339;
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Ekesan Ş, McCarthy E, Case DA, York DM. RNA Electrostatics: How Ribozymes Engineer Active Sites to Enable Catalysis. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:5982-5990. [PMID: 35862934 PMCID: PMC9496635 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c03727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Electrostatic interactions are fundamental to RNA structure and function, and intimately influenced by solvation and the ion atmosphere. RNA enzymes, or ribozymes, are catalytic RNAs that are able to enhance reaction rates over a million-fold, despite having only a limited repertoire of building blocks and available set of chemical functional groups. Ribozyme active sites usually occur at junctions where negatively charged helices come together, and in many cases leverage this strained electrostatic environment to recruit metal ions in solution that can assist in catalysis. Similar strategies have been implicated in related artificially engineered DNA enzymes. Herein, we apply Poisson-Boltzmann, 3D-RISM, and molecular simulations to study a set of metal-dependent small self-cleaving ribozymes (hammerhead, pistol, and Varkud satellite) as well as an artificially engineered DNAzyme (8-17) to examine electrostatic features and their relation to the recruitment of monovalent and divalent metal ions important for activity. We examine several fundamental roles for these ions that include: (1) structural integrity of the catalytically active state, (2) pKa tuning of residues involved in acid-base catalysis, and (3) direct electrostatic stabilization of the transition state via Lewis acid catalysis. Taken together, these examples demonstrate how RNA electrostatics orchestrates the site-specific and territorial binding of metal ions to play important roles in catalysis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Şölen Ekesan
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Erika McCarthy
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - David A. Case
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Darrin M. York
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Ekesan Ş, York DM. Who stole the proton? Suspect general base guanine found with a smoking gun in the pistol ribozyme. Org Biomol Chem 2022; 20:6219-6230. [PMID: 35452066 PMCID: PMC9378597 DOI: 10.1039/d2ob00234e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The pistol ribozyme (Psr) is one among the most recently discovered classes of small nucleolytic ribozymes that catalyze site-specific RNA self-cleavage through 2'-O-transphosphorylation. The Psr contains a conserved guanine (G40) that in crystal structures is in a position suggesting it plays the role of the general base to abstract a proton from the nucleophile to activate the reaction. Although some functional data is consistent with this mechanistic role, a notable exception is 2-aminopurine (2AP) substitution which has no effect on the rate, unlike similar substitutions across other so-called "G + M" and "G + A" ribozyme classes. Herein we postulate that an alternate conserved guanine, G42, is the primary general base, and provide evidence from molecular simulations that the active site of Psr can undergo local refolding into a structure that is consistent with the common "L-platform/L-scaffold" architecture identified in G + M and G + A ribozyme classes with Psr currently the notable exception. We summarize the key currently available experimental data and present new classical and combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical simulation results that collectively suggest a new hypothesis. We hypothesize that there are two available catalytic pathways supported by different conformational states connected by a local refolding of the active site: (1) a primary pathway with an active site architecture aligned with the L-platform/L-scaffold framework where G42 acts as a general base, and (2) a secondary pathway with the crystallographic active site architecture where G40 acts as a general base. We go on to make several experimentally testable predictions, and suggest specific experiments that would ultimately bring closure to the mystery as to "who stole the proton in the pistol ribozyme?".
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Şölen Ekesan
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
| | - Darrin M York
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Parra-Meneses V, Rojas-Hernández F, Cepeda-Plaza M. The role of Na + in catalysis by the 8-17 DNAzyme. Org Biomol Chem 2022; 20:6356-6362. [PMID: 35856910 DOI: 10.1039/d2ob01075e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The 8-17 DNAzyme is the most studied deoxyribozyme in terms of its molecular mechanism; hence it has become a model system to understand the basis behind DNA catalysis. New functional studies and the recent attainment of high-resolution X-ray structures, in addition to theoretical calculations have offered a great opportunity to gain a broader comprehension of its mechanism; however many aspects are unclear yet, especially regarding the precise role of metal ions in catalysis. Recently, molecular dynamics simulations have suggested for the first time a specific and dynamical participation of Na+ in the mechanism through the reaction pathway, besides the roles proposed for divalent metal cofactors. Herein, we present experimental evidence of a cooperative role of the monovalent cation Na+ in catalysis that is in line with these theoretical suggestions. Our findings show a clear influence of the concentration of Na+ on the activity of the 8-17 DNAzyme when Pb2+ is used as the cofactor. Interestingly, this effect is not noticed with Mg2+, indicating a particular contribution of the monovalent ion to catalysis that would operate preferentially with Pb2+. We have also found that Na+ affects the pKa of the general base and the general acid, indicating its influence on general acid-base catalysis, already identified as part of the mechanism of the 8-17 DNAzyme. Finally, our results emphasize the need to consider Na+ carefully in the design and analysis of functional studies of catalytic DNAs and its possible specific role in their mechanisms.
Collapse
|
17
|
Lönnberg H. Structural modifications as tools in mechanistic studies of the cleavage of RNA phosphodiester linkages. CHEM REC 2022; 22:e202200141. [PMID: 35832010 DOI: 10.1002/tcr.202200141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The cleavage of RNA phosphodiester bonds by RNase A and hammerhead ribozyme at neutral pH fundamentally differs from the spontaneous reactions of these bonds under the same conditions. While the predominant spontaneous reaction is isomerization of the 3',5'-phosphodiester linkages to their 2',5'-counterparts, this reaction has never been reported to compete with the enzymatic cleavage reaction, not even as a minor side reaction. Comparative kinetic measurements with structurally modified di-nucleoside monophosphates and oligomeric phosphodiesters have played an important role in clarification of mechanistic details of the buffer-independent and buffer-catalyzed reactions. More recently, heavy atom isotope effects and theoretical calculations have refined the picture. The primary aim of all these studies has been to form a solid basis for mechanistic analyses of the action of more complicated catalytic machineries. In other words, to contribute to conception of a plausible unified picture of RNA cleavage by biocatalysts, such as RNAse A, hammerhead ribozyme and DNAzymes. In addition, structurally modified trinucleoside monophosphates as transition state models for Group I and II introns have clarified some features of the action of large ribozymes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Harri Lönnberg
- Department of Chemistry, University of Turku, FI-20014 University of, Turku
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Abstract
Owing to its great threat to human health and environment, Pb2+ pollution has been recognized as a major public problem by the World Health Organization (WHO). Many DNA aptamers have been utilized in the development of Pb2+-detection sensors, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we report three Pb2+-complexed structures of the thrombin binding aptamer (TBA). These high-resolution crystal structures showed that TBA forms intramolecular G-quadruplex and Pb2+ is bound by the two G-tetrads in the center. Compared to K+-stabilized G-quadruplexes, the coordinating distance between Pb2+ and the G-tetrads are much shorter. The T3T4 and T12T13 linkers play important roles in dimerization and crystallization of TBA, but they are changeable for Pb2+-binding. In combination with mutagenesis and CD spectra, the G8C mutant structure unraveled that the T7G8T9 linker of TBA is also variable. In addition to expansion of the Pb2+-binding aptamer sequences, our study also set up one great example for quick and rational development of other aptamers with similar or optimized binding activity.
Collapse
|
19
|
Chen D, Li Y, Li X, Hong X, Fan X, Savidge T. Key difference between transition state stabilization and ground state destabilization: increasing atomic charge densities before or during enzyme–substrate binding. Chem Sci 2022; 13:8193-8202. [PMID: 35919436 PMCID: PMC9278421 DOI: 10.1039/d2sc01994a] [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: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The origin of the enormous catalytic power of enzymes has been extensively studied through experimental and computational approaches. Although precise mechanisms are still subject to much debate, enzymes are thought to catalyze reactions by stabilizing transition states (TSs) or destabilizing ground states (GSs). By exploring the catalysis of various types of enzyme–substrate noncovalent interactions, we found that catalysis by TS stabilization and the catalysis by GS destabilization share common features by reducing the free energy barriers (ΔG‡s) of reactions, but are different in attaining the requirement for ΔG‡ reduction. Irrespective of whether enzymes catalyze reactions by TS stabilization or GS destabilization, they reduce ΔG‡s by enhancing the charge densities of catalytic atoms that experience a reduction in charge density between GSs and TSs. Notably, in TS stabilization, the charge density of catalytic atoms is enhanced prior to enzyme–substrate binding; whereas in GS destabilization, the charge density of catalytic atoms is enhanced during the enzyme–substrate binding. Results show that TS stabilization and GS destabilization are not contradictory to each other and are consistent in reducing the ΔG‡s of reactions. The full mechanism of enzyme catalysis includes the mechanism of reducing ΔG‡ and the mechanism of enhancing atomic charge densities. Our findings may help resolve the debate between TS stabilization and GS destabilization and assist our understanding of catalysis and the design of artificial enzymes. Transition state stabilization and ground state destabilization utilize the same molecular mechanism when lowering the free energy barriers (ΔG‡s) of reactions, but differ in achieving the requirement for ΔG‡ reduction.![]()
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Deliang Chen
- Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Organo-Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering College, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Yibao Li
- Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Organo-Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering College, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Xun Li
- Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Organo-Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering College, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Xuechuan Hong
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, Key Laboratory of Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Drug Discovery and Hubei Province, Wuhan University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Xiaolin Fan
- Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Organo-Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering College, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, China
| | - Tor Savidge
- Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Texas Children's Microbiome Center, Texas Childrens Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Abstract
DNAzymes are a group of DNA molecules that can catalyze various chemical reactions. Owing to their great application potentials, DNAzymes have received significant attention. However, due to their intrinsic difficulties in crystallization and structural determination, only very limited structural information of DNAzymes is available to date. Using co-crystallization with the African Swine Fever Virus Polymerase X (AsfvPolX) protein, we have recently solved a complex structure of the 8-17 DNAzyme, which represents the first structure of the catalytically active RNA-cleaving DNAzyme. In this chapter, we describe the detailed protocols including gene construction, AsfvPolX expression and purification, crystallization, structure determination, and in vitro cleavage assay. While the specific methods described herein were originally designed for the 8-17 DNAzyme, they can also be utilized to solve other DNAzyme structures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hehua Liu
- Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Song Mao
- Department of Chemistry and The RNA Institute, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA
| | - Jia Sheng
- Department of Chemistry and The RNA Institute, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA.
| | - Jianhua Gan
- Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Zeng J, Giese TJ, Ekesan Ş, York DM. Development of Range-Corrected Deep Learning Potentials for Fast, Accurate Quantum Mechanical/Molecular Mechanical Simulations of Chemical Reactions in Solution. J Chem Theory Comput 2021; 17:6993-7009. [PMID: 34644071 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
We develop a new deep potential─range correction (DPRc) machine learning potential for combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) simulations of chemical reactions in the condensed phase. The new range correction enables short-ranged QM/MM interactions to be tuned for higher accuracy, and the correction smoothly vanishes within a specified cutoff. We further develop an active learning procedure for robust neural network training. We test the DPRc model and training procedure against a series of six nonenzymatic phosphoryl transfer reactions in solution that are important in mechanistic studies of RNA-cleaving enzymes. Specifically, we apply DPRc corrections to a base QM model and test its ability to reproduce free-energy profiles generated from a target QM model. We perform these comparisons using the MNDO/d and DFTB2 semiempirical models because they differ in the way they treat orbital orthogonalization and electrostatics and produce free-energy profiles which differ significantly from each other, thereby providing us a rigorous stress test for the DPRc model and training procedure. The comparisons show that accurate reproduction of the free-energy profiles requires correction of the QM/MM interactions out to 6 Å. We further find that the model's initial training benefits from generating data from temperature replica exchange simulations and including high-temperature configurations into the fitting procedure, so the resulting models are trained to properly avoid high-energy regions. A single DPRc model was trained to reproduce four different reactions and yielded good agreement with the free-energy profiles made from the target QM/MM simulations. The DPRc model was further demonstrated to be transferable to 2D free-energy surfaces and 1D free-energy profiles that were not explicitly considered in the training. Examination of the computational performance of the DPRc model showed that it was fairly slow when run on CPUs but was sped up almost 100-fold when using NVIDIA V100 GPUs, resulting in almost negligible overhead. The new DPRc model and training procedure provide a potentially powerful new tool for the creation of next-generation QM/MM potentials for a wide spectrum of free-energy applications ranging from drug discovery to enzyme design.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jinzhe Zeng
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-8554, United States
| | - Timothy J Giese
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-8554, United States
| | - Şölen Ekesan
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-8554, United States
| | - Darrin M York
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-8554, United States
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Chen J, Li N, Wang X, Chen J, Zhang JZH, Zhu T. Molecular mechanism related to the binding of fluorophores to Mango-II revealed by multiple-replica molecular dynamics simulations. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:10636-10649. [PMID: 33904542 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp06438f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Recently, RNA aptamers activating small-molecule fluorophores have been successfully applied to tag and track RNAs in vivo. It is of significance to investigate the molecular mechanism of the fluorophore-RNA aptamer bindings at the atomic level to seek a possible pathway to enhance the fluorescence efficiency of fluorophores. In this work, multiple replica molecular dynamics (MRMD) simulations, essential dynamics (ED) analysis, and hierarchical clustering analysis were coupled to probe the effect of A22U mutation on the binding of two fluorophores, TO1-Biotin (TO1) and TO3-Biotin (TO3), to the Mango-II RNA aptamer (Mango-II). ED analysis reveals that A22U induces alterations in the binding pocket and sites of TO1 and TO3 to the Mango-II, which in turn tunes the fluorophore-RNA interface and changes the interactions of TO1 and TO3 with separate nucleotides of Mango-II. Dynamics analyses also uncover that A22U exerts the opposite impact on the molecular surface areas of the Mango-II and sugar puckers of nucleotides 22 and 23 in Mango-II complexed with TO1 and TO3. Moreover, the calculations of binding free energies suggest that A22U strengthens the binding ability of TO1 to the mutated Mango-II but weakens TO3 to the mutated Mango-II when compared with WT. These findings imply that point mutation in nucleotides possibly tune the fluorescence of fluorophores binding to RNA aptamers, providing a possible scheme to enhance the fluorescence of fluorophores.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Junxiao Chen
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics & New Drug Development, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. and School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, 250353, People's Republic of China
| | - Na Li
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics & New Drug Development, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
| | - Xingyu Wang
- NYU-ECNU Center for Computational Chemistry at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Jianzhong Chen
- School of Science, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan 250357, People's Republic of China.
| | - John Z H Zhang
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics & New Drug Development, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. and NYU-ECNU Center for Computational Chemistry at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Tong Zhu
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics & New Drug Development, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. and NYU-ECNU Center for Computational Chemistry at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, People's Republic of China and Shandong Key Laboratory of Biophysics, Institute of Biophysics, Dezhou University, Dezhou 253023, China
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Cortés-Guajardo C, Rojas-Hernández F, Paillao-Bustos R, Cepeda-Plaza M. Hydrated metal ion as a general acid in the catalytic mechanism of the 8-17 DNAzyme. Org Biomol Chem 2021; 19:5395-5402. [PMID: 34047747 DOI: 10.1039/d1ob00366f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The RNA-cleaving 8-17 DNAzyme, which is a metalloenzyme that depends on divalent metal ions for its function, is the most studied catalytic DNA in terms of its mechanism. By the end of 2017, a report of the crystal structure of the enzyme-substrate complex in the presence of Pb2+ probed some of the previous findings and opened new questions, especially around the participation of the metal ion in the catalytic mechanism and the promiscuity exhibited by the enzyme in terms of the metal cofactor required for catalysis. In this article we explore the role of the divalent metal ion in the mechanism of the 8-17 DNAzyme as a general acid, by measuring the influence of pH over the activity of a slower variant of the enzyme in the presence of Pb2+. We replaced G14, which has been identified as a general base in the mechanism of the enzyme, by the unnatural analog 2-aminopurine, with a lower pKa value of the N1 group. With this approach, we obtained a bell-shaped pH-rate profile with experimental pKa values of 5.4 and 7.0. Comparing these results with previous pH-rate profiles in the presence of Mg2+, our findings suggest the stabilization of the 5'-O leaving group by the hydrated metal ion acting as a general acid, in addition to the activation of the 2'-OH nucleophile by the general base G14.
Collapse
|
24
|
Moon WJ, Huang PJJ, Liu J. Probing Metal-Dependent Phosphate Binding for the Catalysis of the 17E DNAzyme. Biochemistry 2021; 60:1909-1918. [PMID: 34106684 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.1c00091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The RNA-cleaving 17E DNAzyme exhibits different levels of cleavage activity in the presence of various divalent metal ions, with Pb2+ giving the fastest cleavage. In this study, the metal-phosphate interaction is probed to understand the trend of activity with different metal ions. For the first-row transition metals, the lowest activity shown by Ni2+ correlates with the inhibition by the inorganic phosphate and its water ligand exchange rate, suggesting inner-sphere metal coordination. Cleavage activity with the two stereoisomers of the phosphorothioate-modified substrates, Rp and Sp, indicated that Mg2+, Mn2+, Fe2+, and Co2+ had the highest Sp:Rp activity ratio of >900. Comparatively, the activity was much less affected using the thiophilic metals, including Pb2+, suggesting inner-sphere coordination. The pH-rate profiles showed that Pb2+ was different than the rest of the metal ions in having a smaller slope and a similar fitted apparent pKa and the pKa of metal-bound water. Combining previous reports and our current results, we propose that Pb2+ most likely plays the role of a general acid while the other metal ions are Lewis acid catalysts interacting with the scissile phosphate.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Woohyun J Moon
- Department of Chemistry, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Po-Jung Jimmy Huang
- Department of Chemistry, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Juewen Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Giese TJ, Ekesan Ş, York DM. Extension of the Variational Free Energy Profile and Multistate Bennett Acceptance Ratio Methods for High-Dimensional Potential of Mean Force Profile Analysis. J Phys Chem A 2021; 125:4216-4232. [PMID: 33784093 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.1c00736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
We redevelop the variational free energy profile (vFEP) method using a cardinal B-spline basis to extend the method for analyzing free energy surfaces (FESs) involving three or more reaction coordinates. We also implemented software for evaluating high-dimensional profiles based on the multistate Bennett acceptance ratio (MBAR) method which constructs an unbiased probability density from global reweighting of the observed samples. The MBAR method takes advantage of a fast algorithm for solving the unbinned weighted histogram (UWHAM)/MBAR equations which replaces the solution of simultaneous equations with a nonlinear optimization of a convex function. We make use of cardinal B-splines and multiquadric radial basis functions to obtain smooth, differentiable MBAR profiles in arbitrary high dimensions. The cardinal B-spline vFEP and MBAR methods are compared using three example systems that examine 1D, 2D, and 3D profiles. Both methods are found to be useful and produce nearly indistinguishable results. The vFEP method is found to be 150 times faster than MBAR when applied to periodic 2D profiles, but the MBAR method is 4.5 times faster than vFEP when evaluating unbounded 3D profiles. In agreement with previous comparisons, we find the vFEP method produces superior FESs when the overlap between umbrella window simulations decreases. Finally, the associative reaction mechanism of hammerhead ribozyme is characterized using 3D, 4D, and 6D profiles, and the higher-dimensional profiles are found to have smaller reaction barriers by as much as 1.5 kcal/mol. The methods presented here have been implemented into the FE-ToolKit software package along with new methods for network-wide free energy analysis in drug discovery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Timothy J Giese
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8087, United States
| | - Şölen Ekesan
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8087, United States
| | - Darrin M York
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8087, United States
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Micura R, Höbartner C. Fundamental studies of functional nucleic acids: aptamers, riboswitches, ribozymes and DNAzymes. Chem Soc Rev 2020; 49:7331-7353. [PMID: 32944725 DOI: 10.1039/d0cs00617c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
This review aims at juxtaposing common versus distinct structural and functional strategies that are applied by aptamers, riboswitches, and ribozymes/DNAzymes. Focusing on recently discovered systems, we begin our analysis with small-molecule binding aptamers, with emphasis on in vitro-selected fluorogenic RNA aptamers and their different modes of ligand binding and fluorescence activation. Fundamental insights are much needed to advance RNA imaging probes for detection of exo- and endogenous RNA and for RNA process tracking. Secondly, we discuss the latest gene expression-regulating mRNA riboswitches that respond to the alarmone ppGpp, to PRPP, to NAD+, to adenosine and cytidine diphosphates, and to precursors of thiamine biosynthesis (HMP-PP), and we outline new subclasses of SAM and tetrahydrofolate-binding RNA regulators. Many riboswitches bind protein enzyme cofactors that, in principle, can catalyse a chemical reaction. For RNA, however, only one system (glmS ribozyme) has been identified in Nature thus far that utilizes a small molecule - glucosamine-6-phosphate - to participate directly in reaction catalysis (phosphodiester cleavage). We wonder why that is the case and what is to be done to reveal such likely existing cellular activities that could be more diverse than currently imagined. Thirdly, this brings us to the four latest small nucleolytic ribozymes termed twister, twister-sister, pistol, and hatchet as well as to in vitro selected DNA and RNA enzymes that promote new chemistry, mainly by exploiting their ability for RNA labelling and nucleoside modification recognition. Enormous progress in understanding the strategies of nucleic acids catalysts has been made by providing thorough structural fundaments (e.g. first structure of a DNAzyme, structures of ribozyme transition state mimics) in combination with functional assays and atomic mutagenesis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ronald Micura
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck CMBI, Leopold-Franzens University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
| | | |
Collapse
|
27
|
Černý J, Božíková P, Svoboda J, Schneider B. A unified dinucleotide alphabet describing both RNA and DNA structures. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:6367-6381. [PMID: 32406923 PMCID: PMC7293047 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2020] [Revised: 04/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
By analyzing almost 120 000 dinucleotides in over 2000 nonredundant nucleic acid crystal structures, we define 96+1 diNucleotide Conformers, NtCs, which describe the geometry of RNA and DNA dinucleotides. NtC classes are grouped into 15 codes of the structural alphabet CANA (Conformational Alphabet of Nucleic Acids) to simplify symbolic annotation of the prominent structural features of NAs and their intuitive graphical display. The search for nontrivial patterns of NtCs resulted in the identification of several types of RNA loops, some of them observed for the first time. Over 30% of the nearly six million dinucleotides in the PDB cannot be assigned to any NtC class but we demonstrate that up to a half of them can be re-refined with the help of proper refinement targets. A statistical analysis of the preferences of NtCs and CANA codes for the 16 dinucleotide sequences showed that neither the NtC class AA00, which forms the scaffold of RNA structures, nor BB00, the DNA most populated class, are sequence neutral but their distributions are significantly biased. The reported automated assignment of the NtC classes and CANA codes available at dnatco.org provides a powerful tool for unbiased analysis of nucleic acid structures by structural and molecular biologists.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jiří Černý
- Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, BIOCEV, CZ-252 50 Vestec, Prague-West, Czech Republic
| | - Paulína Božíková
- Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, BIOCEV, CZ-252 50 Vestec, Prague-West, Czech Republic
| | - Jakub Svoboda
- Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, BIOCEV, CZ-252 50 Vestec, Prague-West, Czech Republic
| | - Bohdan Schneider
- Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, BIOCEV, CZ-252 50 Vestec, Prague-West, Czech Republic
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Gaines CS, Piccirilli JA, York DM. The L-platform/L-scaffold framework: a blueprint for RNA-cleaving nucleic acid enzyme design. RNA (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2020; 26:111-125. [PMID: 31776179 PMCID: PMC6961537 DOI: 10.1261/rna.071894.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2019] [Accepted: 11/14/2019] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
We develop an L-platform/L-scaffold framework we hypothesize may serve as a blueprint to facilitate site-specific RNA-cleaving nucleic acid enzyme design. Building on the L-platform motif originally described by Suslov and coworkers, we identify new critical scaffolding elements required to anchor a conserved general base guanine ("L-anchor") and bind functionally important metal ions at the active site ("L-pocket"). Molecular simulations, together with a broad range of experimental structural and functional data, connect the L-platform/L-scaffold elements to necessary and sufficient conditions for catalytic activity. We demonstrate that the L-platform/L-scaffold framework is common to five of the nine currently known naturally occurring ribozyme classes (Twr, HPr, VSr, HHr, Psr), and intriguingly from a design perspective, the framework also appears in an artificially engineered DNAzyme (8-17dz). The flexibility of the L-platform/L-scaffold framework is illustrated on these systems, highlighting modularity and trends in the variety of known general acid moieties that are supported. These trends give rise to two distinct catalytic paradigms, building on the classifications proposed by Wilson and coworkers and named for the implicated general base and acid. The "G + A" paradigm (Twr, HPr, VSr) exclusively utilizes nucleobase residues for chemistry, and the "G + M + " paradigm (HHr, 8-17dz, Psr) involves structuring of the "L-pocket" metal ion binding site for recruitment of a divalent metal ion that plays an active role in the chemical steps of the reaction. Finally, the modularity of the L-platform/L-scaffold framework is illustrated in the VS ribozyme where the "L-pocket" assumes the functional role of the "L-anchor" element, highlighting a distinct mechanism, but one that is functionally linked with the hammerhead ribozyme.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Colin S Gaines
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
| | - Joseph A Piccirilli
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
| | - Darrin M York
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Ma L, Liu J. Catalytic Nucleic Acids: Biochemistry, Chemical Biology, Biosensors, and Nanotechnology. iScience 2020; 23:100815. [PMID: 31954323 PMCID: PMC6962706 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.100815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2019] [Revised: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Since the initial discovery of ribozymes in the early 1980s, catalytic nucleic acids have been used in different areas. Compared with protein enzymes, catalytic nucleic acids are programmable in structure, easy to modify, and more stable especially for DNA. We take a historic view to summarize a few main interdisciplinary areas of research on nucleic acid enzymes that may have broader impacts. Early efforts on ribozymes in the 1980s have broken the notion that all enzymes are proteins, supplying new evidence for the RNA world hypothesis. In 1994, the first catalytic DNA (DNAzyme) was reported. Since 2000, the biosensor applications of DNAzymes have emerged and DNAzymes are particularly useful for detecting metal ions, a challenging task for enzymes and antibodies. Combined with nanotechnology, DNAzymes are key building elements for switches allowing dynamic control of materials assembly. The search for new DNAzymes and ribozymes is facilitated by developments in DNA sequencing and computational algorithms, further broadening our fundamental understanding of their biochemistry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lingzi Ma
- Department of Chemistry, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Juewen Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Cepeda-Plaza M, Peracchi A. Insights into DNA catalysis from structural and functional studies of the 8-17 DNAzyme. Org Biomol Chem 2020; 18:1697-1709. [DOI: 10.1039/c9ob02453k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The review examines functional knowledge gathered over two decades of research on the 8-17 DNAzyme, focusing on three aspects: the structural requirements for catalysis, the role of metal ions and the participation of general acid-base catalysis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Alessio Peracchi
- Department of Chemistry
- Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability
- University of Parma
- Parma
- Italy
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Ganguly A, Weissman BP, Piccirilli JA, York DM. Evidence for a Catalytic Strategy to Promote Nucleophile Activation in Metal-Dependent RNA-Cleaving Ribozymes and 8-17 DNAzyme. ACS Catal 2019; 9:10612-10617. [PMID: 31840007 PMCID: PMC6902279 DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.9b02035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2019] [Revised: 09/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
An unique catalytic strategy was recently reported for the glmS ribozyme [Bingaman et al., Nat. Chem. Biol.2017, 13, 439-445] that involves promotion of productive hydrogen bonding of the O2' nucleophile to facilitate its activation. We provide broad evidence of this strategy in the hammerhead, pistol, and VS ribozymes and 8-17 DNAzyme, enabled by a functionally important divalent metal ion that interacts with the scissile phosphate and disrupts nonproductive competitive hydrogen bonding with the O2' nucleophile. This strategy, designated tertiary gamma (3°γ) catalysis, illustrates an additional role for divalent ions in ribozyme catalysis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Abir Ganguly
- Laboratory
for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Rutgers,
The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8087, United States
- Institute
for Quantitative Biomedicine, Rutgers, The
State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8087, United States
| | - Benjamin P. Weissman
- Department
of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Joseph A. Piccirilli
- Department
of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Darrin M. York
- Laboratory
for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Rutgers,
The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8087, United States
- Institute
for Quantitative Biomedicine, Rutgers, The
State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8087, United States
- Department
of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers,
The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8087, United States
| |
Collapse
|