1
|
Sardag I, Duvenci ZS, Belkaya S, Timucin E. Rational design of monomeric IL37 variants guided by stability and dynamical analyses of IL37 dimers. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2024; 23:1854-1863. [PMID: 38882680 PMCID: PMC11177541 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2024.04.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2024] [Revised: 04/07/2024] [Accepted: 04/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024] Open
Abstract
IL37 plays important roles in the regulation of innate immunity and its oligomeric status is critical to these roles. In its monomeric state, IL37 can effectively inhibit the inflammatory response of IL18 by binding to IL18Rα, a capacity lost in its dimeric form, underlining the pivotal role of the oligomeric status of IL37 in its anti-inflammatory action. Until now, two IL37 dimer structures have been deposited in PDB, reflecting a substantial difference in their dimer interfaces. Given this discrepancy, we analyzed the PDB structures of the IL37 dimer (PDB IDs: 6ncu, 5hn1) along with a AF2-multimer prediction by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Results showed that the 5hn1 and AF2-predicted dimers have the same interface and stably maintained their conformations throughout simulations, while the recent IL37 dimer (PDB ID: 6ncu) with a different interface did not, proposing a possible issue with the recent IL37 dimer structure (6ncu). Next, focusing on the stable dimer structures, we have identified five critical positions of V71/Y85/I86/E89/S114, three new positions compared to the literature, that would reduce dimer stability without affecting the monomer structure. Two quintuple mutants were tested by MD simulations and showed partial or complete dissociation of the dimer. Overall, the insights gained from this study reinforce the validity of the 5hn1 and AF2 multimer structures, while also advancing our understanding of the IL37 dimer interface through the generation of monomer-locked IL37 variants.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Inci Sardag
- Bogazici University, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Istanbul 34342, Turkey
| | - Zeynep Sevval Duvenci
- Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Istanbul 34752, Turkey
| | - Serkan Belkaya
- Bilkent University, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Ankara 06800, Turkey
- Bilkent University, The National Nanotechnology Research Center (UNAM), Ankara 06800, Turkey
| | - Emel Timucin
- Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Istanbul 34752, Turkey
- Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, School of Medicine, Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Istanbul 34752, Turkey
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Hirsch M, Desai RR, Annaswamy S, Keatinge-Clay AT. Mutagenesis Supports AlphaFold Prediction of How Modular Polyketide Synthase Acyl Carrier Proteins Dock With Downstream Ketosynthases. Proteins 2024. [PMID: 39078105 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Revised: 06/07/2024] [Accepted: 07/05/2024] [Indexed: 07/31/2024]
Abstract
The docking of an acyl carrier protein (ACP) domain with a downstream ketosynthase (KS) domain in each module of a polyketide synthase (PKS) helps ensure accurate biosynthesis. If the polyketide chain bound to the ACP has been properly modified by upstream processing enzymes and is compatible with gatekeeping residues in the KS tunnel, a transacylation reaction can transfer it from the 18.1-Å phosphopantetheinyl arm of the ACP to the reactive cysteine of the KS. AlphaFold-Multimer predicts a general interface for these transacylation checkpoints. Half of the solutions obtained for 50 ACP/KS pairs show the KS motif TxLGDP forming the first turn of an α-helix, as in reported structures, while half show it forming a type I β-turn not previously observed. Solutions with the latter conformation may represent how these domains are relatively positioned during the transacylation reaction, as the entrance to the KS active site is relatively open and the phosphopantetheinylated ACP serine and the reactive KS cysteine are relatively closer-17.2 versus 20.9 Å, on average. To probe the predicted interface, 20 mutations were made to KS surface residues within the model triketide lactone synthase P1-P6-P7. The activities of these mutants are consistent with the proposed interface.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Melissa Hirsch
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Ronak R Desai
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Shreyas Annaswamy
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Adrian T Keatinge-Clay
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Utsumi T, Tsumura M, Yashiro M, Kato Z, Noma K, Sakura F, Kagawa R, Mizoguchi Y, Karakawa S, Ohnishi H, Cunningham-Rundles C, Arkwright PD, Kobayashi M, Kanegane H, Bogunovic D, Boisson B, Casanova JL, Asano T, Okada S. Exclusive Characteristics of the p.E555K Dominant-Negative Variant in Autosomal Dominant E47 Deficiency. J Clin Immunol 2024; 44:167. [PMID: 39073655 PMCID: PMC11286708 DOI: 10.1007/s10875-024-01758-x] [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: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 06/21/2024] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE Transcription factor 3 (TCF3) encodes 2 transcription factors generated by alternative splicing, E12 and E47, which contribute to early lymphocyte differentiation. In humans, autosomal dominant (AD) E47 transcription factor deficiency is an inborn error of immunity characterized by B-cell deficiency and agammaglobulinemia. Only the recurrent de novo p.E555K pathogenic variant has been associated with this disease and acts via a dominant-negative (DN) mechanism. In this study, we describe the first Asian patient with agammaglobulinemia caused by the TCF3 p.E555K variant and provide insights into the structure and function of this variant. METHODS TCF3 variant was identified by inborn errors of immunity-related gene panel sequencing. The variant E555K was characterized by alanine scanning of the E47 basic region and comprehensive mutational analysis focused on position 555. RESULTS The patient was a 25-year-old male with B-cell deficiency, agammaglobulinemia, and mild facial dysmorphic features. We confirmed the diagnosis of AD E47 transcription factor deficiency by identifying a heterozygous missense variant, c.1663 G>A; p.E555K, in TCF3. Alanine scanning of the E47 basic region revealed the structural importance of position 555. Comprehensive mutational analysis focused on position 555 showed that only the glutamate-to-lysine substitution had a strong DN effect. 3D modeling demonstrated that this variant not only abolished hydrogen bonds involved in protein‒DNA interactions, but also inverted the charge on the surface of the E47 protein. CONCLUSIONS Our study reveals the causative mutation hotspot in the TCF3 DN variant and highlights the weak negative selection associated with the TCF3 gene.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Takanori Utsumi
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Miyuki Tsumura
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Masato Yashiro
- Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan
| | - Zenichiro Kato
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
- Structural Medicine, United Graduate School of Drug Discovery and Medical Information Science, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
| | - Kosuke Noma
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Fumiaki Sakura
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
- Department of Applied Genomics, Kazusa DNA Research Institute, Chiba, Japan
| | - Reiko Kagawa
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Yoko Mizoguchi
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Shuhei Karakawa
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Hidenori Ohnishi
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
| | - Charlotte Cunningham-Rundles
- Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Peter D Arkwright
- Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Masao Kobayashi
- Japanese Red Cross Chugoku-Shikoku Block Blood Center, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Hirokazu Kanegane
- Department of Child Health and Development, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), Tokyo, Japan
| | - Dusan Bogunovic
- Center for Inborn Errors of Immunity, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Precision Immunology Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Bertrand Boisson
- St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Rockefeller Branch, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
- Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Necker Branch, INSERM U1163, Necker Hospital for Sick Children, Paris, France
- Paris Descartes University, Imagine Institute, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Laurent Casanova
- St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Rockefeller Branch, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
- Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Necker Branch, INSERM U1163, Necker Hospital for Sick Children, Paris, France
- Paris Descartes University, Imagine Institute, Paris, France
- Pediatric Hematology-Immunology Unit, Necker Hospital for Sick Children, AP-HP, Paris, France
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), New York, NY, USA
| | - Takaki Asano
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
- Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
| | - Satoshi Okada
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Gavade A, Nagraj AK, Patel R, Pais R, Dhanure P, Scheele J, Seiz W, Patil J. Understanding the Specific Implications of Amino Acids in the Antibody Development. Protein J 2024; 43:405-424. [PMID: 38724751 DOI: 10.1007/s10930-024-10201-4] [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] [Accepted: 04/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
As the demand for immunotherapy to treat and manage cancers, infectious diseases and other disorders grows, a comprehensive understanding of amino acids and their intricate role in antibody engineering has become a prime requirement. Naturally produced antibodies may not have the most suitable amino acids at the complementarity determining regions (CDR) and framework regions, for therapeutic purposes. Therefore, to enhance the binding affinity and therapeutic properties of an antibody, the specific impact of certain amino acids on the antibody's architecture must be thoroughly studied. In antibody engineering, it is crucial to identify the key amino acid residues that significantly contribute to improving antibody properties. Therapeutic antibodies with higher binding affinity and improved functionality can be achieved through modifications or substitutions with highly suitable amino acid residues. Here, we have indicated the frequency of amino acids and their association with the binding free energy in CDRs. The review also analyzes the experimental outcome of two studies that reveal the frequency of amino acids in CDRs and provides their significant correlation between the outcomes. Additionally, it discusses the various bond interactions within the antibody structure and antigen binding. A detailed understanding of these amino acid properties should assist in the analysis of antibody sequences and structures needed for designing and enhancing the overall performance of therapeutic antibodies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Akshata Gavade
- Innoplexus Consulting Services Pvt Ltd, 7Th Floor, Midas Tower, Hinjawadi, Pune, Maharashtra, 411057, India
| | - Anil Kumar Nagraj
- Innoplexus Consulting Services Pvt Ltd, 7Th Floor, Midas Tower, Hinjawadi, Pune, Maharashtra, 411057, India
| | - Riya Patel
- Innoplexus Consulting Services Pvt Ltd, 7Th Floor, Midas Tower, Hinjawadi, Pune, Maharashtra, 411057, India
| | - Roylan Pais
- Innoplexus Consulting Services Pvt Ltd, 7Th Floor, Midas Tower, Hinjawadi, Pune, Maharashtra, 411057, India
| | - Pratiksha Dhanure
- Innoplexus Consulting Services Pvt Ltd, 7Th Floor, Midas Tower, Hinjawadi, Pune, Maharashtra, 411057, India
| | | | | | - Jaspal Patil
- Innoplexus Consulting Services Pvt Ltd, 7Th Floor, Midas Tower, Hinjawadi, Pune, Maharashtra, 411057, India.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Schlaak L, Weise C, Kuropka B, Weng A. Mutational Analysis of RIP Type I Dianthin-30 Suggests a Role for Arg24 in Endocytosis. Toxins (Basel) 2024; 16:219. [PMID: 38787071 PMCID: PMC11125672 DOI: 10.3390/toxins16050219] [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: 01/26/2024] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Saponin-mediated endosomal escape is a mechanism that increases the cytotoxicity of type I ribosome-inactivating proteins (type I RIPs). In order to actualize their cytotoxicity, type I RIPs must be released into the cytosol after endocytosis. Without release from the endosomes, type I RIPs are largely degraded and cannot exert their cytotoxic effects. Certain triterpene saponins are able to induce the endosomal escape of these type I RIPs, thus increasing their cytotoxicity. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the endosomal escape enhancement of type I RIPs by triterpene saponins has not been fully elucidated. In this report, we investigate the involvement of the basic amino acid residues of dianthin-30, a type I RIP isolated from the plant Dianthus caryophyllus L., in endosomal escape enhancement using alanine scanning. Therefore, we designed 19 alanine mutants of dianthin-30. Each mutant was combined with SO1861, a triterpene saponin isolated from the roots of Saponaria officinalis L., and subjected to a cytotoxicity screening in Neuro-2A cells. Cytotoxic screening revealed that dianthin-30 mutants with lysine substitutions did not impair the endosomal escape enhancement. There was one particular mutant dianthin, Arg24Ala, that exhibited significantly reduced synergistic cytotoxicity in three mammalian cell lines. However, this reduction was not based on an altered interaction with SO1861. It was, rather, due to the impaired endocytosis of dianthin Arg24Ala into the cells.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Louisa Schlaak
- Institute of Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 2+4, 14195 Berlin, Germany;
| | - Christoph Weise
- Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Thielallee 63, 14195 Berlin, Germany; (C.W.); (B.K.)
| | - Benno Kuropka
- Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Thielallee 63, 14195 Berlin, Germany; (C.W.); (B.K.)
| | - Alexander Weng
- Institute of Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 2+4, 14195 Berlin, Germany;
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Hacisuleyman A, Erman B. Synergy and anti-cooperativity in allostery: Molecular dynamics study of WT and oncogenic KRAS-RGL1. Proteins 2024; 92:665-678. [PMID: 38153169 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26657] [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: 07/28/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023]
Abstract
This study focuses on investigating the effects of an oncogenic mutation (G12V) on the stability and interactions within the KRAS-RGL1 protein complex. The KRAS-RGL1 complex is of particular interest due to its relevance to KRAS-associated cancers and the potential for developing targeted drugs against the KRAS system. The stability of the complex and the allosteric effects of specific residues are examined to understand their roles as modulators of complex stability and function. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we calculate the mutual information, MI, between two neighboring residues at the interface of the KRAS-RGL1 complex, and employ the concept of interaction information, II, to measure the contribution of a third residue to the interaction between interface residue pairs. Negative II indicates synergy, where the presence of the third residue strengthens the interaction, while positive II suggests anti-cooperativity. Our findings reveal that MI serves as a dominant factor in determining the results, with the G12V mutation increasing the MI between interface residues, indicating enhanced correlations due to the formation of a more compact structure in the complex. Interestingly, although II plays a role in understanding three-body interactions and the impact of distant residues, it is not significant enough to outweigh the influence of MI in determining the overall stability of the complex. Nevertheless, II may nonetheless be a relevant factor to consider in future drug design efforts. This study provides valuable insights into the mechanisms of complex stability and function, highlighting the significance of three-body interactions and the impact of distant residues on the binding stability of the complex. Additionally, our findings demonstrate that constraining the fluctuations of a third residue consistently increases the stability of the G12V variant, making it challenging to weaken complex formation of the mutated species through allosteric manipulation. The novel perspective offered by this approach on protein dynamics, function, and allostery has potential implications for understanding and targeting other protein complexes involved in vital cellular processes. The results contribute to our understanding of the effects of oncogenic mutations on protein-protein interactions and provide a foundation for future therapeutic interventions in the context of KRAS-associated cancers and beyond.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aysima Hacisuleyman
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Burak Erman
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Poulton JS, Lamba S, Free M, Xi G, McInnis E, Williams G, Kudlacek ST, Thieker D, Kuhlman B, Falk R. High-resolution epitope mapping of commercial antibodies to ANCA antigens by yeast surface display. J Immunol Methods 2024; 528:113654. [PMID: 38432292 PMCID: PMC11023775 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2024.113654] [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: 12/21/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
Epitope mapping provides critical insight into antibody-antigen interactions. Epitope mapping of autoantibodies from patients with autoimmune diseases can help elucidate disease immunogenesis and guide the development of antigen-specific therapies. Similarly, epitope mapping of commercial antibodies targeting known autoantigens enables the use of those antibodies to test specific hypotheses. Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Autoantibody (ANCA) vasculitis results from the formation of autoantibodies to multiple autoantigens, including myeloperoxidase (MPO), proteinase-3 (PR3), plasminogen (PLG), and peroxidasin (PXDN). To perform high-resolution epitope mapping of commercial antibodies to these autoantigens, we developed a novel yeast surface display library based on a series of >5000 overlapping peptides derived from their protein sequences. Using both FACS and magnetic bead isolation of reactive yeast, we screened 19 commercially available antibodies to the ANCA autoantigens. This approach to epitope mapping resulted in highly specific, fine epitope mapping, down to single amino acid resolution in many cases. Our study also identified cross-reactivity between some commercial antibodies to MPO and PXDN, which suggests that patients with apparent autoantibodies to both proteins may be the result of cross-reactivity. Together, our data validate yeast surface display using maximally overlapping peptides as an excellent approach to linear epitope mapping.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John S Poulton
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; UNC Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
| | - Sajan Lamba
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Meghan Free
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; UNC Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Gang Xi
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; UNC Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Elizabeth McInnis
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Gabrielle Williams
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Stephan T Kudlacek
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Menten AI, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - David Thieker
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Brian Kuhlman
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Ronald Falk
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; UNC Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Tao L, Zhou T, Wu Z, Hu F, Yang S, Kong X, Li C. ESPDHot: An Effective Machine Learning-Based Approach for Predicting Protein-DNA Interaction Hotspots. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:3548-3557. [PMID: 38587997 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c02011] [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: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
Protein-DNA interactions are pivotal to various cellular processes. Precise identification of the hotspot residues for protein-DNA interactions holds great significance for revealing the intricate mechanisms in protein-DNA recognition and for providing essential guidance for protein engineering. Aiming at protein-DNA interaction hotspots, this work introduces an effective prediction method, ESPDHot based on a stacked ensemble machine learning framework. Here, the interface residue whose mutation leads to a binding free energy change (ΔΔG) exceeding 2 kcal/mol is defined as a hotspot. To tackle the imbalanced data set issue, the adaptive synthetic sampling (ADASYN), an oversampling technique, is adopted to synthetically generate new minority samples, thereby rectifying data imbalance. As for molecular characteristics, besides traditional features, we introduce three new characteristic types including residue interface preference proposed by us, residue fluctuation dynamics characteristics, and coevolutionary features. Combining the Boruta method with our previously developed Random Grouping strategy, we obtained an optimal set of features. Finally, a stacking classifier is constructed to output prediction results, which integrates three classical predictors, Support Vector Machine (SVM), XGBoost, and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) as the first layer, and Logistic Regression (LR) algorithm as the second one. Notably, ESPDHot outperforms the current state-of-the-art predictors, achieving superior performance on the independent test data set, with F1, MCC, and AUC reaching 0.571, 0.516, and 0.870, respectively.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lianci Tao
- College of Chemistry and Life Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Tong Zhou
- College of Chemistry and Life Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Zhixiang Wu
- College of Chemistry and Life Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Fangrui Hu
- College of Chemistry and Life Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Shuang Yang
- College of Chemistry and Life Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Xiaotian Kong
- College of Chemistry and Life Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Chunhua Li
- College of Chemistry and Life Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Rrustemi T, Meyer K, Roske Y, Uyar B, Akalin A, Imami K, Ishihama Y, Daumke O, Selbach M. Pathogenic mutations of human phosphorylation sites affect protein-protein interactions. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3146. [PMID: 38605029 PMCID: PMC11009412 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46794-8] [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: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Despite their lack of a defined 3D structure, intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) of proteins play important biological roles. Many IDRs contain short linear motifs (SLiMs) that mediate protein-protein interactions (PPIs), which can be regulated by post-translational modifications like phosphorylation. 20% of pathogenic missense mutations are found in IDRs, and understanding how such mutations affect PPIs is essential for unraveling disease mechanisms. Here, we employ peptide-based interaction proteomics to investigate 36 disease-associated mutations affecting phosphorylation sites. Our results unveil significant differences in interactomes between phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated peptides, often due to disrupted phosphorylation-dependent SLiMs. We focused on a mutation of a serine phosphorylation site in the transcription factor GATAD1, which causes dilated cardiomyopathy. We find that this phosphorylation site mediates interaction with 14-3-3 family proteins. Follow-up experiments reveal the structural basis of this interaction and suggest that 14-3-3 binding affects GATAD1 nucleocytoplasmic transport by masking a nuclear localisation signal. Our results demonstrate that pathogenic mutations of human phosphorylation sites can significantly impact protein-protein interactions, offering insights into potential molecular mechanisms underlying pathogenesis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Katrina Meyer
- Max Delbrück Center (MDC), Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13125, Berlin, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Ihnestraße 63, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Yvette Roske
- Max Delbrück Center (MDC), Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13125, Berlin, Germany
| | - Bora Uyar
- Max Delbrück Center (MDC), Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13125, Berlin, Germany
| | - Altuna Akalin
- Max Delbrück Center (MDC), Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13125, Berlin, Germany
| | - Koshi Imami
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan
- RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, Yokohama, 230-0045, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Yasushi Ishihama
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan
| | - Oliver Daumke
- Max Delbrück Center (MDC), Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13125, Berlin, Germany
- Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Takustraße 6, Berlin, Germany
| | - Matthias Selbach
- Max Delbrück Center (MDC), Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13125, Berlin, Germany.
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Perrin F, Sinha P, Mitchell SPC, Sadek M, Maesako M, Berezovska O. Identification of PS1/gamma-secretase and glutamate transporter GLT-1 interaction sites. J Biol Chem 2024; 300:107172. [PMID: 38499151 PMCID: PMC11015137 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107172] [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: 09/23/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Abstract
The recently discovered interaction between Presenilin 1 (PS1), a catalytic subunit of γ-secretase responsible for generating amyloid-β peptides, and GLT-1, a major glutamate transporter in the brain (EAAT2), provides a mechanistic link between these two key factors involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Modulating this interaction can be crucial to understand the consequence of such crosstalk in AD context and beyond. However, the interaction sites between these two proteins are unknown. Herein, we utilized an alanine scanning approach coupled with FRET-based fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy to identify the interaction sites between PS1 and GLT-1 in their native environment within intact cells. We found that GLT-1 residues at position 276 to 279 (TM5) and PS1 residues at position 249 to 252 (TM6) are crucial for GLT-1-PS1 interaction. These results have been cross validated using AlphaFold Multimer prediction. To further investigate whether this interaction of endogenously expressed GLT-1 and PS1 can be prevented in primary neurons, we designed PS1/GLT-1 cell-permeable peptides (CPPs) targeting the PS1 or GLT-1 binding site. We used HIV TAT domain to allow for cell penetration which was assayed in neurons. First, we assessed the toxicity and penetration of CPPs by confocal microscopy. Next, to ensure the efficiency of CPPs, we monitored the modulation of GLT-1-PS1 interaction in intact neurons by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. We saw significantly less interaction between PS1 and GLT-1 with both CPPs. Our study establishes a new tool to study the functional aspect of GLT-1-PS1 interaction and its relevance in normal physiology and AD models.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Florian Perrin
- MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Priyanka Sinha
- MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Shane Patrick Clancy Mitchell
- MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Michael Sadek
- MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Masato Maesako
- MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Oksana Berezovska
- MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Adhikari J, Heffernan J, Edeling M, Fernandez E, Jethva PN, Diamond MS, Fremont DH, Gross ML. Epitope Mapping of Japanese Encephalitis Virus Neutralizing Antibodies by Native Mass Spectrometry and Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange. Biomolecules 2024; 14:374. [PMID: 38540792 PMCID: PMC10967844 DOI: 10.3390/biom14030374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) remains a global public health concern due to its epidemiological distribution and the existence of multiple strains. Neutralizing antibodies against this infection have shown efficacy in in vivo studies. Thus, elucidation of the epitopes of neutralizing antibodies can aid in the design and development of effective vaccines against different strains of JEV. Here, we describe a combination of native mass spectrometry (native-MS) and hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) to complete screening of eight mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against JEV E-DIII to identify epitope regions. Native-MS was used as a first pass to identify the antibodies that formed a complex with the target antigen, and it revealed that seven of the eight monoclonal antibodies underwent binding. Native mass spectra of a MAb (JEV-27) known to be non-binding showed broad native-MS peaks and poor signal, suggesting the protein is a mixture or that there are impurities in the sample. We followed native-MS with HDX-MS to locate the binding sites for several of the complex-forming antibodies. This combination of two mass spectrometry-based approaches should be generally applicable and particularly suitable for screening of antigen-antibody and other protein-protein interactions when other traditional approaches give unclear results or are difficult, unavailable, or need to be validated.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jagat Adhikari
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA; (J.A.); (P.N.J.)
| | - James Heffernan
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA; (J.H.); (M.E.); (E.F.); (M.S.D.); (D.H.F.)
| | - Melissa Edeling
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA; (J.H.); (M.E.); (E.F.); (M.S.D.); (D.H.F.)
| | - Estefania Fernandez
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA; (J.H.); (M.E.); (E.F.); (M.S.D.); (D.H.F.)
| | - Prashant N. Jethva
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA; (J.A.); (P.N.J.)
| | - Michael S. Diamond
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA; (J.H.); (M.E.); (E.F.); (M.S.D.); (D.H.F.)
- Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
- Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky Center for Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Programs, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Daved H. Fremont
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA; (J.H.); (M.E.); (E.F.); (M.S.D.); (D.H.F.)
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Michael L. Gross
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA; (J.A.); (P.N.J.)
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Ishimoto T, Arakawa Y, Vural S, Stöhr J, Vollmer S, Galinski A, Siewert K, Rühl G, Poluektov Y, Delcommenne M, Horvath O, He M, Summer B, Pohl R, Alharbi R, Dornmair K, Arakawa A, Prinz JC. Multiple environmental antigens may trigger autoimmunity in psoriasis through T-cell receptor polyspecificity. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1374581. [PMID: 38524140 PMCID: PMC10958380 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1374581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Psoriasis is a T-cell mediated autoimmune skin disease. HLA-C*06:02 is the main psoriasis-specific risk gene. Using a Vα3S1/Vβ13S1 T-cell receptor (TCR) from a lesional psoriatic CD8+ T-cell clone we had discovered that, as an underlying pathomechanism, HLA-C*06:02 mediates an autoimmune response against melanocytes in psoriasis, and we had identified an epitope from ADAMTS-like protein 5 (ADAMTSL5) as a melanocyte autoantigen. The conditions activating the psoriatic autoimmune response in genetically predisposed individuals throughout life remain incompletely understood. Here, we aimed to identify environmental antigens that might trigger autoimmunity in psoriasis because of TCR polyspecificity. Methods We screened databases with the peptide recognition motif of the Vα3S1/Vβ13S1 TCR for environmental proteins containing peptides activating this TCR. We investigated the immunogenicity of these peptides for psoriasis patients and healthy controls by lymphocyte stimulation experiments and peptide-loaded HLA-C*06:02 tetramers. Results We identified peptides from wheat, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, microbiota, tobacco, and pathogens that activated both the Vα3S1/Vβ13S1 TCR and CD8+ T cells from psoriasis patients. Using fluorescent HLA-C*06:02 tetramers loaded with ADAMTSL5 or wheat peptides, we find that the same CD8+ T cells may recognize both autoantigen and environmental antigens. A wheat-free diet could alleviate psoriasis in several patients. Discussion Our results show that due to TCR polyspecificity, several environmental antigens corresponding to previously suspected psoriasis risk conditions converge in the reactivity of a pathogenic psoriatic TCR and might thus be able to stimulate the psoriatic autoimmune response against melanocytes. Avoiding the corresponding environmental risk factors could contribute to the management of psoriasis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tatsushi Ishimoto
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Yukiyasu Arakawa
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Secil Vural
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Julia Stöhr
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Sigrid Vollmer
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Adrian Galinski
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Katherina Siewert
- Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology, Biomedical Center and University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Geraldine Rühl
- Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology, Biomedical Center and University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | | | | | - Orsolya Horvath
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Mengwen He
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Burkhard Summer
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Ralf Pohl
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Rehab Alharbi
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Klaus Dornmair
- Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology, Biomedical Center and University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Akiko Arakawa
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Jörg C. Prinz
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Borole P, Rajan A. Building trust in deep learning-based immune response predictors with interpretable explanations. Commun Biol 2024; 7:279. [PMID: 38448546 PMCID: PMC10917751 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-05968-2] [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: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
The ability to predict whether a peptide will get presented on Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class I molecules has profound implications in designing vaccines. Numerous deep learning-based predictors for peptide presentation on MHC class I molecules exist with high levels of accuracy. However, these MHC class I predictors are treated as black-box functions, providing little insight into their decision making. To build turst in these predictors, it is crucial to understand the rationale behind their decisions with human-interpretable explanations. We present MHCXAI, eXplainable AI (XAI) techniques to help interpret the outputs from MHC class I predictors in terms of input peptide features. In our experiments, we explain the outputs of four state-of-the-art MHC class I predictors over a large dataset of peptides and MHC alleles. Additionally, we evaluate the reliability of the explanations by comparing against ground truth and checking their robustness. MHCXAI seeks to increase understanding of deep learning-based predictors in the immune response domain and build trust with validated explanations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Piyush Borole
- School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Informatics Forum, 10 Crichton St, Newington, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB, Scotland, UK.
| | - Ajitha Rajan
- School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Informatics Forum, 10 Crichton St, Newington, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB, Scotland, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Matsoukas MT, Panagiotopoulos V, Karageorgos V, Chrousos GP, Venihaki M, Liapakis G. Structural and Functional Insights into CRF Peptides and Their Receptors. BIOLOGY 2024; 13:120. [PMID: 38392338 PMCID: PMC10886364 DOI: 10.3390/biology13020120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
Corticotropin-releasing factor or hormone (CRF or CRH) and the urocortins regulate a plethora of physiological functions and are involved in many pathophysiological processes. CRF and urocortins belong to the family of CRF peptides (CRF family), which includes sauvagine, urotensin, and many synthetic peptide and non-peptide CRF analogs. Several of the CRF analogs have shown considerable therapeutic potential in the treatment of various diseases. The CRF peptide family act by interacting with two types of plasma membrane proteins, type 1 (CRF1R) and type 2 (CRF2R), which belong to subfamily B1 of the family B G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). This work describes the structure of CRF peptides and their receptors and the activation mechanism of the latter, which is compared with that of other GPCRs. It also discusses recent structural information that rationalizes the selective binding of various ligands to the two CRF receptor types and the activation of receptors by different agonists.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Minos-Timotheos Matsoukas
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
| | - Vasilis Panagiotopoulos
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
| | - Vlasios Karageorgos
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece
| | - George P Chrousos
- University Research Institute of Maternal and Child Health and Precision Medicine and UNESCO, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Livadias 8, 11527 Athens, Greece
| | - Maria Venihaki
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece
| | - George Liapakis
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Suzuki S, Kuroda M, Aoki K, Kawaji K, Hiramatsu Y, Sasano M, Nishiyama A, Murayama K, Kodama EN, Oishi S, Hayashi H. Helix-based screening with structure prediction using artificial intelligence has potential for the rapid development of peptide inhibitors targeting class I viral fusion. RSC Chem Biol 2024; 5:131-140. [PMID: 38333196 PMCID: PMC10849125 DOI: 10.1039/d3cb00166k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The rapid development of drugs against emerging and re-emerging viruses is required to prevent future pandemics. However, inhibitors usually take a long time to optimize. Here, to improve the optimization step, we used two heptad repeats (HR) in the spike protein (S protein) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as a model and established a screening system for peptide-based inhibitors containing an α-helix region (SPICA). SPICA can be used to identify critical amino acid regions and evaluate the inhibitory effects of peptides as decoys. We further employed an artificial intelligence structure-prediction system (AlphaFold2) for the rapid analysis of structure-activity relationships. Here, we identified that critical amino acid regions, DVDLGD (amino acids 1163-1168 in the S protein), IQKEIDRLNE (1179-1188), and NLNESLIDL (1192-1200), played a pivotal role in SARS-CoV-2 fusion. Peptides containing these critical amino acid regions efficiently blocked viral replication. We also demonstrated that AlphaFold2 could successfully predict structures similar to the reported crystal and cryo-electron microscopy structures of the post-fusion form of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein. Notably, the predicted structures of the HR1 region and the peptide-based fusion inhibitors corresponded well with the antiviral effects of each fusion inhibitor. Thus, the combination of SPICA and AlphaFold2 is a powerful tool to design viral fusion inhibitors using only the amino-acid sequence of the fusion protein.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Satoshi Suzuki
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku Sendai Miyagi 980-8575 Japan
| | - Mio Kuroda
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Kyoto Pharmaceutical University 1, Misasagi-Shichono-cho, Yamashina-ku Kyoto 607-8412 Japan
| | - Keisuke Aoki
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Kyoto Pharmaceutical University 1, Misasagi-Shichono-cho, Yamashina-ku Kyoto 607-8412 Japan
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University Sakyo-ku Kyoto 606-8501 Japan
| | - Kumi Kawaji
- Division of Infectious Diseases, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku Sendai Miyagi 980-8575 Japan
| | - Yoshiki Hiramatsu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku Sendai Miyagi 980-8575 Japan
| | - Mina Sasano
- Division of Infectious Diseases, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku Sendai Miyagi 980-8575 Japan
| | - Akie Nishiyama
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku Sendai Miyagi 980-8575 Japan
| | - Kazutaka Murayama
- Division of Biomedical Measurements and Diagnostics, Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku University 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku Sendai Miyagi 980-8575 Japan
| | - Eiichi N Kodama
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku Sendai Miyagi 980-8575 Japan
- Division of Infectious Diseases, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku Sendai Miyagi 980-8575 Japan
- Department of Infectious Disease, Graduate School of Medicine and Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku Sendai Miyagi 980-8575 Japan
| | - Shinya Oishi
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Kyoto Pharmaceutical University 1, Misasagi-Shichono-cho, Yamashina-ku Kyoto 607-8412 Japan
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University Sakyo-ku Kyoto 606-8501 Japan
| | - Hironori Hayashi
- Division of Infectious Diseases, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku Sendai Miyagi 980-8575 Japan
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Seanoon K, Kitiyanant V, Payongsri P, Sirachainan N, Angchaisuksiri P, Chuansumrit A, Hongeng S, Tanratana P. Site-directed mutagenesis of tissue factor pathway inhibitor-binding exosite D60A on factor VII results in a new factor VII variant with lower coagulant activity. Res Pract Thromb Haemost 2024; 8:102309. [PMID: 38318153 PMCID: PMC10840347 DOI: 10.1016/j.rpth.2023.102309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Recombinant factor (F)VIIa (rFVIIa) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of hemophilia A and B with inhibitors and congenital FVII deficiency. Moreover, the investigational uses of rFVIIa are becoming of interest since it can be used to treat various clinical bleeding conditions. However, there is evidence showing that rFVIIa is a potent procoagulant agent that potentially leads to an increased risk of thrombotic complications. Objectives To design a new rFVII with lower coagulant activity that could potentially be used as an alternative hemostatic agent aiming to minimize the risk of thrombogenicity. Methods D60A was introduced into the F7 sequence by polymerase chain reaction-based mutagenesis. Wild type (WT) and D60A were generated in human embryonic kidney 293T cells by stable transfection. FVII coagulant activities were determined by amidolytic cleavage of the FVIIa-specific substrate, 2-step FXa generation, thrombin generation (TG), and clot-based assays. Results WT and D60A demonstrated similar FVIIa amidolytic activity. However, D60A showed approximately 50% activity on FX activation and significantly longer lag time in the TG assay than that shown by WT. The clotting time produced by D60A spiked in FVII-deficient plasma was significantly prolonged than that of WT. Additionally, the ex vivo plasma half-lives of WT and D60A were comparable. Conclusion D60A demonstrated lower coagulant activities, most likely due to the weakening of FX binding, leading to impaired FX activation and delayed TG and fibrin formation. Considering that a plasma FVII level of 15% to 25% is adequate for normal hemostasis, D60A is a molecule of interest for future development of an rFVII with a lesser extent of thrombogenicity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karnsasin Seanoon
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Vorawat Kitiyanant
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Ramathibodi Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Panwajee Payongsri
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Nongnuch Sirachainan
- Ramathibodi Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Pantep Angchaisuksiri
- Ramathibodi Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Ampaiwan Chuansumrit
- Ramathibodi Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Suradej Hongeng
- Ramathibodi Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Pansakorn Tanratana
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Ramathibodi Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Chandrasekhar G, Srinivasan E, Nandhini S, Pravallika G, Sanjay G, Rajasekaran R. Computer aided therapeutic tripeptide design, in alleviating the pathogenic proclivities of nocuous α-synuclein fibrils. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2024; 42:483-494. [PMID: 36961221 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2194003] [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: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023]
Abstract
Parkinson's disorder (PD) exacerbates neuronal degeneration of motor nerves, thereby effectuating uncoordinated movements and tremors. Aberrant alpha-synuclein (α-syn) is culpable of triggering PD, wherein cytotoxic amyloid aggregates of α-syn get deposited in motor neurons to instigate neuro-degeneration. Amyloid aggregates, typically rich in beta sheets are cardinal targets to mitigate their neurotoxic effects. In this analysis, owing to their interaction specificity, we formulated an efficacious tripeptide out of the aggregation-prone region of α-syn protein. With the help of a proficient computational pipeline, systematic peptide shortening and an adept molecular simulation platform, we formulated a tripeptide, VAV from α-syn structure based hexapeptide KISVRV. Indeed, the VAV tripeptide was able to effectively mitigate the α-syn amyloid fibrils' dynamic rate of beta-sheet formation. Additional trajectory analyses of the VAV- α-syn complex indicated that, upon its dynamic interaction, VAV efficiently altered the distinct pathogenic structural dynamics of α-syn, further advocating its potential in alleviating aberrant α-syn's amyloidogenic proclivities. Consistent findings from various computational analyses have led us to surmise that VAV could potentially re-alter the pathogenic conformational orientation of α-syn, essential to mitigate its cytotoxicity. Hence, VAV tripeptide could be an efficacious therapeutic candidate to efficiently ameliorate aberrant α-syn amyloid mediated neurotoxicity, eventually attenuating the nocuous effects of PD.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- G Chandrasekhar
- Quantitative Biology Lab, Department of Biotechnology, School of Bio Sciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT, Deemed to Be University), Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - E Srinivasan
- Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| | - S Nandhini
- Quantitative Biology Lab, Department of Biotechnology, School of Bio Sciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT, Deemed to Be University), Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - G Pravallika
- Quantitative Biology Lab, Department of Biotechnology, School of Bio Sciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT, Deemed to Be University), Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - G Sanjay
- Quantitative Biology Lab, Department of Biotechnology, School of Bio Sciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT, Deemed to Be University), Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - R Rajasekaran
- Quantitative Biology Lab, Department of Biotechnology, School of Bio Sciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT, Deemed to Be University), Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Dai J, Izadi S, Zarzar J, Wu P, Oh A, Carter PJ. Variable domain mutational analysis to probe the molecular mechanisms of high viscosity of an IgG 1 antibody. MAbs 2024; 16:2304282. [PMID: 38269489 PMCID: PMC10813588 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2024.2304282] [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: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Subcutaneous injection is the preferred route of administration for many antibody therapeutics for reasons that include its speed and convenience. However, the small volume limit (typically ≤ 2 mL) for subcutaneous delivery often necessitates antibody formulations at high concentrations (commonly ≥100 mg/mL), which may lead to physicochemical problems. For example, antibodies with large hydrophobic or charged patches can be prone to self-interaction giving rise to high viscosity. Here, we combined X-ray crystallography with computational modeling to predict regions of an anti-glucagon receptor (GCGR) IgG1 antibody prone to self-interaction. An extensive mutational analysis was undertaken of the complementarity-determining region residues residing in hydrophobic surface patches predicted by spatial aggregation propensity, in conjunction with residue-level solvent accessibility, averaged over conformational ensembles from molecular dynamics simulations. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) was used as a medium throughput screen for self-interaction of ~ 200 anti-GCGR IgG1 variants. A negative correlation was found between the viscosity determined at high concentration (180 mg/mL) and the DLS interaction parameter measured at low concentration (2-10 mg/mL). Additionally, anti-GCGR variants were readily identified with reduced viscosity and antigen-binding affinity within a few fold of the parent antibody, with no identified impact on overall developability. The methods described here may be useful in the optimization of other antibodies to facilitate their therapeutic administration at high concentration.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jing Dai
- Department of Antibody Engineering, Genentech, Inc, South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Saeed Izadi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Development, Genentech, Inc, South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jonathan Zarzar
- Department of Pharmaceutical Development, Genentech, Inc, South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Patrick Wu
- Department of Bioanalytical Sciences, Genentech, Inc, South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Angela Oh
- Department of Structural Biology, Genentech, Inc, South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Paul J. Carter
- Department of Antibody Engineering, Genentech, Inc, South San Francisco, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Yamamoto K, Nagatoishi S, Matsunaga R, Nakakido M, Kuroda D, Tsumoto K. Conformational features and interaction mechanisms of V H H antibodies with β-hairpin CDR3: A case of Nb8-HigB2 interaction. Protein Sci 2023; 32:e4827. [PMID: 37916305 PMCID: PMC10661080 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4827] [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: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 10/07/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
The β-hairpin conformation is regarded as an important basic motif to form and regulate protein-protein interactions. Single-domain VH H antibodies are potential therapeutic and diagnostic tools, and the third complementarity-determining regions of the heavy chains (CDR3s) of these antibodies are critical for antigen recognition. Although the sequences and conformations of the CDR3s are diverse, CDR3s sometimes adopt β-hairpin conformations. However, characteristic features and interaction mechanisms of β-hairpin CDR3s remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the molecular recognition of the anti-HigB2 VH H antibody Nb8, which has a CDR3 that forms a β-hairpin conformation. The interaction was analyzed by evaluation of alanine-scanning mutants, molecular dynamics simulations, and hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry. These experiments demonstrated that positions 93 and 94 (Chothia numbering) in framework region 3, which is right outside CDR3 by definition, play pivotal roles in maintaining structural stability and binding properties of Nb8. These findings will facilitate the design and optimization of single-domain antibodies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Koichi Yamamoto
- Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of EngineeringThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
| | - Satoru Nagatoishi
- Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of EngineeringThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
- The Institute of Medical ScienceThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
- Medical Device Development and Regulation Research Center, School of EngineeringThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
| | - Ryo Matsunaga
- Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of EngineeringThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
| | - Makoto Nakakido
- Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of EngineeringThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
| | - Daisuke Kuroda
- Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of EngineeringThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine DevelopmentNational Institute of Infectious DiseasesTokyoJapan
| | - Kouhei Tsumoto
- Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of EngineeringThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
- The Institute of Medical ScienceThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
- Medical Device Development and Regulation Research Center, School of EngineeringThe University of TokyoTokyoJapan
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Lee JS, Karthikeyan D, Fini M, Vincent BG, Rubinsteyn A. ACE configurator for ELISpot: optimizing combinatorial design of pooled ELISpot assays with an epitope similarity model. Brief Bioinform 2023; 25:bbad495. [PMID: 38180831 PMCID: PMC10768796 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbad495] [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: 08/22/2023] [Revised: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2024] Open
Abstract
The enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) assay is a powerful in vitro immunoassay that enables cost-effective quantification of antigen-specific T-cell reactivity. It is used widely in the context of cancer and infectious diseases to validate the immunogenicity of predicted epitopes. While technological advances have kept pace with the demand for increased throughput, efforts to increase scale are bottlenecked by current assay design and deconvolution methods, which have remained largely unchanged. Current methods for designing pooled ELISpot experiments offer limited flexibility of assay parameters, lack support for high-throughput scenarios and do not consider peptide identity during pool assignment. We introduce the ACE Configurator for ELISpot (ACE) to address these gaps. ACE generates optimized peptide-pool assignments from highly customizable user inputs and handles the deconvolution of positive peptides using assay readouts. In this study, we present a novel sequence-aware pooling strategy, powered by a fine-tuned ESM-2 model that groups immunologically similar peptides, reducing the number of false positives and subsequent confirmatory assays compared to existing combinatorial approaches. To validate ACE's performance on real-world datasets, we conducted a comprehensive benchmark study, contextualizing design choices with their impact on prediction quality. Our results demonstrate ACE's capacity to further increase precision of identified immunogenic peptides, directly optimizing experimental efficiency. ACE is freely available as an executable with a graphical user interface and command-line interfaces at https://github.com/pirl-unc/ace.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jin Seok Lee
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Computational Medicine Program, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Curriculum in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Dhuvarakesh Karthikeyan
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Computational Medicine Program, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Curriculum in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Misha Fini
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Benjamin G Vincent
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Computational Medicine Program, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Curriculum in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Alex Rubinsteyn
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Computational Medicine Program, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Curriculum in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 USA
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Huang S, Girdner J, Nguyen LP, Enard D, Li MM. Positive selection analyses identify a single WWE domain residue that shapes ZAP into a super restriction factor. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.11.20.567784. [PMID: 38045310 PMCID: PMC10690157 DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.20.567784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
The host interferon pathway upregulates intrinsic restriction factors in response to viral infection. Many of them block a diverse range of viruses, suggesting that their antiviral functions might have been shaped by multiple viral families during evolution. Virus-host conflicts have led to the rapid adaptation of viral and host proteins at their interaction hotspots. Hence, we can use evolutionary genetic analyses to elucidate antiviral mechanisms and domain functions of restriction factors. Zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP) is a restriction factor against RNA viruses such as alphaviruses, in addition to other RNA, retro-, and DNA viruses, yet its precise antiviral mechanism is not fully characterized. Previously, an analysis of 13 primate ZAP identified 3 positively selected residues in the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-like domain. However, selective pressure from ancient alphaviruses and others likely drove ZAP adaptation in a wider representation of mammals. We performed positive selection analyses in 261 mammalian ZAP using more robust methods with complementary strengths and identified 7 positively selected sites in all domains of the protein. We generated ZAP inducible cell lines in which the positively selected residues of ZAP are mutated and tested their effects on alphavirus replication and known ZAP activities. Interestingly, the mutant in the second WWE domain of ZAP (N658A) is dramatically better than wild-type ZAP at blocking replication of Sindbis virus and other ZAP-sensitive alphaviruses due to enhanced viral translation inhibition. The N658A mutant inhabits the space surrounding the previously reported poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) binding pocket, but surprisingly has reduced binding to PAR. In summary, the second WWE domain is critical for engineering a super restrictor ZAP and fluctuations in PAR binding modulate ZAP antiviral activity. Our study has the potential to unravel the role of ADP-ribosylation in the host innate immune defense and viral evolutionary strategies that antagonize this post-translational modification. Author summary Host proteins and viral proteins that encounter one another are locked in a perpetual genetic arms race. In this evolutionary race, a mutation that confers a survival advantage will become more frequent in the population. By looking at the sequences of genes that are known to have antiviral roles in mammals, we can identify the exact sites where a host and viral protein have interacted and gain insight into how an antiviral protein works. Here, we identified these sites in zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP), a host protein that blocks many different viruses. We found that changing one of the sites from the original amino acid to another dramatically improves ZAP's antiviral activity against Sindbis virus, an alphavirus, due to improved inhibition of viral translation. Our mutation is also better at inhibiting other members in the Alphavirus genus. We observed that our mutant ZAP has reduced ability to bind poly(ADP-ribose), a post-translational modification that is targeted by alphaviruses for productive infection. Our findings help us better understand how viruses have shaped the evolution of broad-spectrum host antiviral proteins, with great implications for the engineering of super restriction factors.
Collapse
|
22
|
Hernández González JE, de Araujo AS. Alchemical Calculation of Relative Free Energies for Charge-Changing Mutations at Protein-Protein Interfaces Considering Fixed and Variable Protonation States. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:6807-6822. [PMID: 37851531 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00972] [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: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
The calculation of relative free energies (ΔΔG) for charge-changing mutations at protein-protein interfaces through alchemical methods remains challenging due to variations in the system's net charge during charging steps, the possibility of mutated and contacting ionizable residues occurring in various protonation states, and undersampling issues. In this study, we present a set of strategies, collectively termed TIRST/TIRST-H+, to address some of these challenges. Our approaches combine thermodynamic integration (TI) with the prediction of pKa shifts to calculate ΔΔG values. Moreover, special sets of restraints are employed to keep the alchemically transformed molecules separated. The accuracy of the devised approaches was assessed on a large and diverse data set comprising 164 point mutations of charged residues (Asp, Glu, Lys, and Arg) to Ala at the protein-protein interfaces of complexes with known three-dimensional structures. Mean absolute and root-mean-square errors ranging from 1.38 to 1.66 and 1.89 to 2.44 kcal/mol, respectively, and Pearson correlation coefficients of ∼0.6 were obtained when testing the approaches on the selected data set using the GPU-TI module of Amber18 suite and the ff14SB force field. Furthermore, the inclusion of variable protonation states for the mutated acid residues improved the accuracy of the predicted ΔΔG values. Therefore, our results validate the use of TIRST/TIRST-H+ in prospective studies aimed at evaluating the impact of charge-changing mutations to Ala on the stability of protein-protein complexes.
Collapse
|
23
|
Bai R, Chen B, Zheng L. Semi-rational engineering an aldo-keto reductase for stereocomplementary reduction of α-keto amide compounds. Microb Cell Fact 2023; 22:213. [PMID: 37840127 PMCID: PMC10577934 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-023-02225-9] [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: 09/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Enantio-pure α-hydroxy amides are valuable intermediates for the synthesis of chiral pharmaceuticals. The asymmetric reduction of α-keto amides to generate chiral α-hydroxy amides is a difficult and challenging task in biocatalysis. In this study, iolS, an aldo-keto reductase from Bacillus subtilis 168 was exhibited as a potential biocatalyst, which could catalyze the reduction of diaryl α-keto amide such as 2-oxo-N, 2-diphenyl-acetamide (ONDPA) with moderate S-selectivity (76.1%, ee) and 60.5% conversion. Through semi-rational engineering, two stereocomplementary variants (I57F/F126L and N21A/F126A) were obtained with ee value of 97.6% (S) and 99.9% (R) toward ONDPA (1a), respectively, delivering chiral α-hydroxy amide with > 98% conversions. Moreover, the excellent S- and R-preference variants displayed improved stereoselectivities toward the other α-keto amide compounds. Molecular dynamic and docking analysis revealed that the two key residues at 21 and 126 were identified as the "switch", which specifically controlled the stereopreference of iolS by regulating the shape of substrate binding pocket as well as the substrate orientation. Our results offer an effective strategy to obtain α-hydroxy amides with high optical purity and provide structural insights into altering the stereoselectivity of AKRs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ruixuan Bai
- Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China
| | - Baoling Chen
- Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China
| | - Liangyu Zheng
- Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Wenzel M, Aquadro CF. Wolbachia infection at least partially rescues the fertility and ovary defects of several new Drosophila melanogaster bag of marbles protein-coding mutants. PLoS Genet 2023; 19:e1011009. [PMID: 37871129 PMCID: PMC10621935 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The D. melanogaster protein coding gene bag of marbles (bam) plays a key role in early male and female reproduction by forming complexes with partner proteins to promote differentiation in gametogenesis. Like another germline gene, Sex lethal, bam genetically interacts with the endosymbiont Wolbachia, as Wolbachia rescues the reduced fertility of a bam hypomorphic mutant. Here, we explored the specificity of the bam-Wolbachia interaction by generating 22 new bam mutants, with ten mutants displaying fertility defects. Nine of these mutants trend towards rescue by the wMel Wolbachia variant, with eight statistically significant at the fertility and/or cytological level. In some cases, fertility was increased a striking 20-fold. There is no specificity between the rescue and the known binding regions of bam, suggesting wMel does not interact with one singular bam partner to rescue the reproductive phenotype. We further tested if wMel interacts with bam in a non-specific way, by increasing bam transcript levels or acting upstream in germline stem cells. A fertility assessment of a bam RNAi knockdown mutant reveals that wMel rescue is specific to functionally mutant bam alleles and we find no obvious evidence of wMel interaction with germline stem cells in bam mutants.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miwa Wenzel
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - Charles F. Aquadro
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Hammond N, Snider J, Stagljar I, Mitchell K, Lagutin K, Jessulat M, Babu M, Teesdale-Spittle PH, Sheridan JP, Sturley SL, Munkacsi AB. Identification and characterization of protein interactions with the major Niemann-Pick type C disease protein in yeast reveals pathways of therapeutic potential. Genetics 2023; 225:iyad129. [PMID: 37440478 PMCID: PMC10471228 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyad129] [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: 01/12/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Niemann-Pick type C (NP-C) disease is a rare lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in NPC1 (95% cases) or NPC2 (5% cases). These proteins function together in cholesterol egress from the lysosome, whereby upon mutation, cholesterol and other lipids accumulate causing major pathologies. However, it is not fully understood how cholesterol is transported from NPC1 residing at the lysosomal membrane to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and plasma membrane. The yeast ortholog of NPC1, Niemann-Pick type C-related protein-1 (Ncr1), functions similarly to NPC1; when transfected into a mammalian cell lacking NPC1, Ncr1 rescues the diagnostic hallmarks of cholesterol and sphingolipid accumulation. Here, we aimed to identify and characterize protein-protein interactions (PPIs) with the yeast Ncr1 protein. A genome-wide split-ubiquitin membrane yeast two-hybrid (MYTH) protein interaction screen identified 11 ER membrane-localized, full-length proteins interacting with Ncr1 at the lysosomal/vacuolar membrane. These highlight the importance of ER-vacuole membrane interface and include PPIs with the Cyb5/Cbr1 electron transfer system, the ceramide synthase complex, and the Sec61/Sbh1 protein translocation complex. These PPIs were not detected in a sterol auxotrophy condition and thus depend on normal sterol metabolism. To provide biological context for the Ncr1-Cyb5 PPI, a yeast strain lacking this PPI (via gene deletions) exhibited altered levels of sterols and sphingolipids including increased levels of glucosylceramide that mimic NP-C disease. Overall, the results herein provide new physical and genetic interaction models to further use the yeast model of NP-C disease to better understand human NP-C disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Hammond
- School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
- Centre for Biodiscovery, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
| | - Jamie Snider
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Igor Stagljar
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Canada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada
- Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences, Meštrovićevo Šetalište 45, HR-21000 Split, Croatia
| | | | | | - Matthew Jessulat
- Department of Biochemistry, Research and Innovation Centre, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
| | - Mohan Babu
- Department of Biochemistry, Research and Innovation Centre, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
| | - Paul H Teesdale-Spittle
- School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
- Centre for Biodiscovery, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
| | - Jeffrey P Sheridan
- School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
- Centre for Biodiscovery, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
| | - Stephen L Sturley
- Department of Biology, Barnard College-Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Andrew B Munkacsi
- School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
- Centre for Biodiscovery, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Islam MJ, Alom MS, Hossain MS, Ali MA, Akter S, Islam S, Ullah MO, Halim MA. Unraveling the impact of ORF3a Q57H mutation on SARS-CoV-2: insights from molecular dynamics. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023:1-14. [PMID: 37649361 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2252908] [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: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
ORF3a is a conserved accessory protein of SARS-CoV-2, linked to viral infection and pathogenesis, with acquired mutations at various locations. Previous studies have shown that the occurrence of the Q57H mutation is higher in comparison to other positions in ORF3a. This mutation is known to induce conformational changes, yet the extent of structural alteration and its role in the viral adaptation process remain unknown. Here we performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of wt-ORF3a, Q57H, and Q57A mutants to analyze structural changes caused by mutations compared to the native protein. The MD analysis revealed that Q57H and Q57A mutants show significant structural changes in the dimer conformation than the wt-ORF3a. This dimer conformer narrows down the ion channel cavity, which reduces Na + or K + permeability leading to decrease the antigenic response that can help the virus to escape the host immune system. Non-bonding interaction analysis shows the Q57H mutant has more interacting residues, resulting in more stability within dimer conformation than the wt-ORF3a and Q57A. Moreover, both mutant dimers (Q57H and Q57A) form a novel salt-bridge interaction at the same position between A:Asp142 and B:Lys61, whereas such an interaction is absent in the wt-ORF3a dimer. We have also noticed that the TM3 domain's flexibility in Q57H is increased because of strong inter-domain interactions of TM1 and TM2 within the dimer conformation. These unusual interactions and flexibility of Q57H mutant can have significant impacts on the SARS-CoV-2 adaptations, virulence, transmission, and immune system evasion. Our findings are consistent with the previous experimental data and provided details information on the structural perturbation in ORF3a caused by mutations, which can help better understand the structural change at the molecular level as well as the reason for the high virulence properties of this variant.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Md Jahirul Islam
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Division of Computer Aided Drug Design, The Red-Green Research Centre, BICCB, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Md Siddik Alom
- Ohio State Biochemistry Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Md Shahadat Hossain
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Division of Computer Aided Drug Design, The Red-Green Research Centre, BICCB, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Md Ackas Ali
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, USA
| | - Shaila Akter
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Division of Computer Aided Drug Design, The Red-Green Research Centre, BICCB, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Shafiqul Islam
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Division of Computer Aided Drug Design, The Red-Green Research Centre, BICCB, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - M Obayed Ullah
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Division of Computer Aided Drug Design, The Red-Green Research Centre, BICCB, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Mohammad A Halim
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, USA
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Rampuria P, Mosyak L, Root AR, Svenson K, Agostino MJ, LaVallie ER. Molecular insights into recognition of GUCY2C by T-cell engaging bispecific antibody anti-GUCY2CxCD3. Sci Rep 2023; 13:13408. [PMID: 37591971 PMCID: PMC10435522 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40467-0] [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: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The intestinal epithelial receptor Guanylyl Cyclase C (GUCY2C) is a tumor-associated cell surface antigen expressed across gastrointestinal malignancies that can serve as an efficacious target for colorectal cancer immunotherapy. Here, we describe a yeast surface-display approach combined with an orthogonal peptide-based mapping strategy to identify the GUCY2C binding epitope of a novel anti-GUCY2CxCD3 bispecific antibody (BsAb) that recently advanced into the clinic for the treatment of cancer. The target epitope was localized to the N-terminal helix H2 of human GUCY2C, which enabled the determination of the crystal structure of the minimal GUCY2C epitope in complex with the anti-GUCY2C antibody domain. To understand if this minimal epitope covers the entire antibody binding region and to investigate the impact of epitope position on the antibody's activity, we further determined the structure of this interaction in the context of the full-length extracellular domain (ECD) of GUCY2C. We found that this epitope is positioned on the protruding membrane-distal helical region of GUCY2C and that its specific location on the surface of GUCY2C dictates the close spatial proximity of the two antigen arms in a diabody arrangement essential to the tumor killing activity of GUCY2CxCD3 BsAb.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pragya Rampuria
- Biomedicine Design, Pfizer Inc., 610 Main St., Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
| | - Lidia Mosyak
- Biomedicine Design, Pfizer Inc., 610 Main St., Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
| | - Adam R Root
- Generate Biomedicines Inc, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Kristine Svenson
- Biomedicine Design, Pfizer Inc., 610 Main St., Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | | | - Edward R LaVallie
- Biomedicine Design, Pfizer Inc., 610 Main St., Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
McConnell A, Hackel BJ. Protein engineering via sequence-performance mapping. Cell Syst 2023; 14:656-666. [PMID: 37494931 PMCID: PMC10527434 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2023.06.009] [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: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Discovery and evolution of new and improved proteins has empowered molecular therapeutics, diagnostics, and industrial biotechnology. Discovery and evolution both require efficient screens and effective libraries, although they differ in their challenges because of the absence or presence, respectively, of an initial protein variant with the desired function. A host of high-throughput technologies-experimental and computational-enable efficient screens to identify performant protein variants. In partnership, an informed search of sequence space is needed to overcome the immensity, sparsity, and complexity of the sequence-performance landscape. Early in the historical trajectory of protein engineering, these elements aligned with distinct approaches to identify the most performant sequence: selection from large, randomized combinatorial libraries versus rational computational design. Substantial advances have now emerged from the synergy of these perspectives. Rational design of combinatorial libraries aids the experimental search of sequence space, and high-throughput, high-integrity experimental data inform computational design. At the core of the collaborative interface, efficient protein characterization (rather than mere selection of optimal variants) maps sequence-performance landscapes. Such quantitative maps elucidate the complex relationships between protein sequence and performance-e.g., binding, catalytic efficiency, biological activity, and developability-thereby advancing fundamental protein science and facilitating protein discovery and evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam McConnell
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Benjamin J Hackel
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Wenzel M, Aquadro CF. Wolbachia infection at least partially rescues the fertility and ovary defects of several new Drosophila melanogaster bag of marbles protein-coding mutants. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.20.532813. [PMID: 37645949 PMCID: PMC10461928 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.20.532813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
The D. melanogaster protein coding gene bag of marbles ( bam ) plays a key role in early male and female reproduction by forming complexes with partner proteins to promote differentiation in gametogenesis. Like another germline gene, Sex lethal , bam genetically interacts with the endosymbiont Wolbachia , as Wolbachia rescues the reduced fertility of a bam hypomorphic mutant. Here, we explored the specificity of the bam-Wolbachia interaction by generating 22 new bam mutants, with ten mutants displaying fertility defects. Nine of these mutants trend towards rescue by the w Mel Wolbachia variant, with eight statistically significant at the fertility and/or cytological level. In some cases, fertility was increased a striking 20-fold. There is no specificity between the rescue and the known binding regions of bam , suggesting w Mel does not interact with one singular bam partner to rescue the reproductive phenotype. We further tested if w Mel interacts with bam in a non-specific way, by increasing bam transcript levels or acting upstream in germline stem cells. A fertility assessment of a bam RNAi knockdown mutant reveals that w Mel rescue is specific to functionally mutant bam alleles and we find no obvious evidence of w Mel interaction with germline stem cells in bam mutants. Author Summary Reproduction in the Drosophila melanogaster fruit fly is dependent on the bag of marbles ( bam ) gene, which acts early in the process of generating eggs and sperm. Mutations to this gene negatively impact the fertility of the fly, causing it to be sterile or have fewer progeny. Interestingly, we find that the bacteria Wolbachia , which resides within reproductive cells across a wide range of insects, partially restores the fertility and ovary phenotype of several bam mutants of which the resultant Bam protein is altered from wildtype. The protein function of Bam is further suggested to be important by the lack of rescue for a fly that has a fertility defect due to low expression of a non-mutated bam gene. Previous work makes similar conclusions about Wolbachia with another reproductive gene, Sex lethal ( Sxl ), highlighting the potential for rescue of fertility mutants to occur in a similar way across different genes. An understanding of the ways in which Wolbachia can affect host reproduction provides us with context with which to frame Wolbachia 's impact on host genes, such as bam and Sxl, and consider the evolutionary implications of Wolbachia 's infection in D. melanogaster fruit flies.
Collapse
|
30
|
Ablan FDO, Maurer MC. Fbg αC 389-402 Enhances Factor XIII Cross-Linking in the Fibrinogen αC Region Via Electrostatic and Hydrophobic Interactions. Biochemistry 2023; 62:2170-2181. [PMID: 37410946 PMCID: PMC10583745 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.3c00066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/08/2023]
Abstract
Coagulation Factor XIII (FXIII) stabilizes blood clots by cross-linking glutamines and lysines in fibrin and other proteins. FXIII activity in the fibrinogen αC region (Fbg αC 221-610) is critical for clot stability and growth. Fbg αC 389-402 is a binding site for thrombin-activated FXIII, (FXIII-A*), with αC E396 promoting FXIII-A* binding and activity in αC. The current study aimed to discover additional residues within Fbg αC 389-402 that accelerate transglutaminase activity toward αC. Electrostatic αC residues (E395, E396, and D390), hydrophobic αC residues (W391 and F394), and residues αC 328-425 were studied by mutations to recombinant Fbg αC 233-425. FXIII activity was monitored through MS-based glycine ethyl ester (GEE) cross-linking and gel-based fluorescence monodansylcadaverine (MDC) cross-linking assays. Truncation mutations 403 Stop (Fbg αC 233-402), 389 Stop (Fbg αC 233-388), and 328 Stop (Fbg αC 233-327) reduced Q237-GEE and MDC cross-linking compared to wild-type (WT). Comparable cross-linking between 389 Stop and 328 Stop showed that FXIII is mainly affected by the loss of Fbg αC 389-402. Substitution mutations E396A, D390A, W391A, and F394A decreased cross-linking relative to WT, whereas E395A, E395S, E395K, and E396D had no effect. Similar FXIII-A* activities were observed for double mutants (D390A, E396A) and (W391A, E396A), relative to D390A and W391A, respectively. In contrast, cross-linking was reduced in (F394A, E396A), relative to F394A. In conclusion, Fbg αC 389-402 boosts FXIII activity in Fbg αC, with D390, W391, and F394 identified as key contributors in enhancing αC cross-linking.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Francis D. O. Ablan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA
| | - Muriel C. Maurer
- Department of Chemistry, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Chen L, Fan Z, Chang J, Yang R, Hou H, Guo H, Zhang Y, Yang T, Zhou C, Sui Q, Chen Z, Zheng C, Hao X, Zhang K, Cui R, Zhang Z, Ma H, Ding Y, Zhang N, Lu X, Luo X, Jiang H, Zhang S, Zheng M. Sequence-based drug design as a concept in computational drug design. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4217. [PMID: 37452028 PMCID: PMC10349078 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39856-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Drug development based on target proteins has been a successful approach in recent decades. However, the conventional structure-based drug design (SBDD) pipeline is a complex, human-engineered process with multiple independently optimized steps. Here, we propose a sequence-to-drug concept for computational drug design based on protein sequence information by end-to-end differentiable learning. We validate this concept in three stages. First, we design TransformerCPI2.0 as a core tool for the concept, which demonstrates generalization ability across proteins and compounds. Second, we interpret the binding knowledge that TransformerCPI2.0 learned. Finally, we use TransformerCPI2.0 to discover new hits for challenging drug targets, and identify new target for an existing drug based on an inverse application of the concept. Overall, this proof-of-concept study shows that the sequence-to-drug concept adds a perspective on drug design. It can serve as an alternative method to SBDD, particularly for proteins that do not yet have high-quality 3D structures available.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lifan Chen
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Zisheng Fan
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Jiangsu, Nanjing, 210023, China
- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, No. 393 Huaxia Middle Road, Shanghai, 200031, China
| | - Jie Chang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Jiangsu, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Ruirui Yang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, No. 393 Huaxia Middle Road, Shanghai, 200031, China
| | - Hui Hou
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Hao Guo
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Yinghui Zhang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Tianbiao Yang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Chenmao Zhou
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Jiangsu, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Qibang Sui
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Zhengyang Chen
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Chen Zheng
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Xinyue Hao
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Jiangsu, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Keke Zhang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Jiangsu, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Rongrong Cui
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Zehong Zhang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Hudson Ma
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Yiluan Ding
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Naixia Zhang
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Xiaojie Lu
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xiaomin Luo
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Hualiang Jiang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Jiangsu, Nanjing, 210023, China
- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, No. 393 Huaxia Middle Road, Shanghai, 200031, China
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Sub-lane Xiangshan, Hangzhou, 310024, China
| | - Sulin Zhang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China.
| | - Mingyue Zheng
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China.
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Jiangsu, Nanjing, 210023, China.
- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, No. 393 Huaxia Middle Road, Shanghai, 200031, China.
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Sub-lane Xiangshan, Hangzhou, 310024, China.
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Stevenson ZC, Moerdyk-Schauwecker MJ, Banse SA, Patel DS, Lu H, Phillips PC. High-throughput library transgenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans via Transgenic Arrays Resulting in Diversity of Integrated Sequences (TARDIS). eLife 2023; 12:RP84831. [PMID: 37401921 PMCID: PMC10328503 DOI: 10.7554/elife.84831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/05/2023] Open
Abstract
High-throughput transgenesis using synthetic DNA libraries is a powerful method for systematically exploring genetic function. Diverse synthesized libraries have been used for protein engineering, identification of protein-protein interactions, characterization of promoter libraries, developmental and evolutionary lineage tracking, and various other exploratory assays. However, the need for library transgenesis has effectively restricted these approaches to single-cell models. Here, we present Transgenic Arrays Resulting in Diversity of Integrated Sequences (TARDIS), a simple yet powerful approach to large-scale transgenesis that overcomes typical limitations encountered in multicellular systems. TARDIS splits the transgenesis process into a two-step process: creation of individuals carrying experimentally introduced sequence libraries, followed by inducible extraction and integration of individual sequences/library components from the larger library cassette into engineered genomic sites. Thus, transformation of a single individual, followed by lineage expansion and functional transgenesis, gives rise to thousands of genetically unique transgenic individuals. We demonstrate the power of this system using engineered, split selectable TARDIS sites in Caenorhabditis elegans to generate (1) a large set of individually barcoded lineages and (2) transcriptional reporter lines from predefined promoter libraries. We find that this approach increases transformation yields up to approximately 1000-fold over current single-step methods. While we demonstrate the utility of TARDIS using C. elegans, in principle the process is adaptable to any system where experimentally generated genomic loci landing pads and diverse, heritable DNA elements can be generated.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Stephen A Banse
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugeneUnited States
| | - Dhaval S Patel
- School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaUnited States
- Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaUnited States
| | - Hang Lu
- School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaUnited States
- Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaUnited States
| | - Patrick C Phillips
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugeneUnited States
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Schafer C, Young D, Singh H, Jayakrishnan R, Banerjee S, Song Y, Dobi A, Petrovics G, Srivastava S, Srivastava S, Sesterhenn IA, Chesnut GT, Tan SH. Development and characterization of an ETV1 rabbit monoclonal antibody for the immunohistochemical detection of ETV1 expression in cancer tissue specimens. J Immunol Methods 2023; 518:113493. [PMID: 37196930 PMCID: PMC10802095 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2023.113493] [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: 03/01/2023] [Revised: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Aberrant ETV1 overexpression arising from gene rearrangements or mutations occur frequently in prostate cancer, round cell sarcomas, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, gliomas, and other malignancies. The absence of specific monoclonal antibodies (mAb) has limited its detection and our understanding of its oncogenic function. METHODS An ETV1 specific rabbit mAb (29E4) was raised using an immunogenic peptide. Key residues essential for its binding were probed by ELISA and its binding kinetics were measured by surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi). Its selective binding to ETV1 was assessed by immunoblots and immunofluorescence assays (IFA), and by both single and double-immuno-histochemistry (IHC) assays on prostate cancer tissue specimens. RESULTS Immunoblot results showed that the mAb is highly specific and lacked cross-reactivity with other ETS factors. A minimal epitope with two phenylalanine residues at its core was found to be required for effective mAb binding. SPRi measurements revealed an equilibrium dissociation constant in the picomolar range, confirming its high affinity. ETV1 (+) tumors were detected in prostate cancer tissue microarray cases evaluated. IHC staining of whole-mounted sections revealed glands with a mosaic staining pattern of cells that are partly ETV1 (+) and interspersed with ETV1 (-) cells. Duplex IHC, using ETV1 and ERG mAbs, detected collision tumors containing glands with distinct ETV1 (+) and ERG (+) cells. CONCLUSIONS The selective detection of ETV1 by the 29E4 mAb in immunoblots, IFA, and IHC assays using human prostate tissue specimens reveals a potential utility for the diagnosis, the prognosis of prostate adenocarcinoma and other cancers, and the stratification of patients for treatment by ETV1 inhibitors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cara Schafer
- Center for Prostate Disease Research, Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
| | - Denise Young
- Center for Prostate Disease Research, Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
| | - Harpreet Singh
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
| | - Rahul Jayakrishnan
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
| | - Sreedatta Banerjee
- Center for Prostate Disease Research, Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
| | - Yingjie Song
- Center for Prostate Disease Research, Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
| | - Albert Dobi
- Center for Prostate Disease Research, Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
| | - Gyorgy Petrovics
- Center for Prostate Disease Research, Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
| | - Sudhir Srivastava
- Cancer Biomarkers Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Shiv Srivastava
- Center for Prostate Disease Research, Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
| | | | - Gregory T Chesnut
- Center for Prostate Disease Research, Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA; Urology Service, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, 20852, USA
| | - Shyh-Han Tan
- Center for Prostate Disease Research, Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD 20817, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Nobili G, Botticelli S, La Penna G, Morante S, Rossi G, Salina G. Probing protein stability: towards a computational atomistic, reliable, affordable, and improvable model. Front Mol Biosci 2023; 10:1122269. [PMID: 37325476 PMCID: PMC10267363 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1122269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
We present an improved application of a recently proposed computational method designed to evaluate the change of free energy as a function of the average value of a suitably chosen collective variable in proteins. The method is based on a full atomistic description of the protein and its environment. The goal is to understand how the protein melting temperature changes upon single-point mutations, because the sign of the temperature variation will allow us to discriminate stabilizing vs. destabilizing mutations in protein sequences. In this refined application the method is based on altruistic well-tempered metadynamics, a variant of multiple-walkers metadynamics. The resulting metastatistics is then modulated by the maximal constrained entropy principle. The latter turns out to be especially helpful in free-energy calculations as it is able to alleviate the severe limitations of metadynamics in properly sampling folded and unfolded configurations. In this work we apply the computational strategy outlined above in the case of the bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, a well-studied small protein, which is a reference for computer simulations since decades. We compute the variation of the melting temperature characterizing the folding-unfolding process between the wild-type protein and two of its single-point mutations that are seen to have opposite effect on the free energy changes. The same approach is used for free energy difference calculations between a truncated form of frataxin and a set of five of its variants. Simulation data are compared to in vitro experiments. In all cases the sign of the change of melting temperature is reproduced, under the further approximation of using an empirical effective mean-field to average out protein-solvent interactions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Germano Nobili
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
| | - Simone Botticelli
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
| | - Giovanni La Penna
- CNR-Istituto di Chimica Dei Composti Organometallici, Firenze, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
| | - Silvia Morante
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- CNR-Istituto di Chimica Dei Composti Organometallici, Firenze, Italy
| | - Giancarlo Rossi
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, Roma, Italy
| | | |
Collapse
|
35
|
Jethva PN, Gross ML. Hydrogen Deuterium Exchange and other Mass Spectrometry-based Approaches for Epitope Mapping. FRONTIERS IN ANALYTICAL SCIENCE 2023; 3:1118749. [PMID: 37746528 PMCID: PMC10512744 DOI: 10.3389/frans.2023.1118749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Antigen-antibody interactions are a fundamental subset of protein-protein interactions responsible for the "survival of the fittest". Determining the interacting interface of the antigen, called an epitope, and that on the antibody, called a paratope, is crucial to antibody development. Because each antigen presents multiple epitopes (unique footprints), sophisticated approaches are required to determine the target region for a given antibody. Although X-ray crystallography, Cryo-EM, and nuclear magnetic resonance can provide atomic details of an epitope, they are often laborious, poor in throughput, and insensitive. Mass spectrometry-based approaches offer rapid turnaround, intermediate structural resolution, and virtually no size limit for the antigen, making them a vital approach for epitope mapping. In this review, we describe in detail the principles of hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry in application to epitope mapping. We also show that a combination of MS-based approaches can assist or complement epitope mapping and push the limit of structural resolution to the residue level. We describe in detail the MS methods used in epitope mapping, provide our perspective about the approaches, and focus on elucidating the role that HDX-MS is playing now and in the future by organizing a discussion centered around several improvements in prototype instrument/applications used for epitope mapping. At the end, we provide a tabular summary of the current literature on HDX-MS-based epitope mapping.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Prashant N. Jethva
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Michael L. Gross
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO 63130, USA
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Ekanayake KB, Mahawaththa MC, Qianzhu H, Abdelkader EH, George J, Ullrich S, Murphy RB, Fry SE, Johansen-Leete J, Payne RJ, Nitsche C, Huber T, Otting G. Probing Ligand Binding Sites on Large Proteins by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of Genetically Encoded Non-Canonical Amino Acids. J Med Chem 2023; 66:5289-5304. [PMID: 36920850 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c00222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
N6-(((trimethylsilyl)-methoxy)carbonyl)-l-lysine (TMSK) and N6-trifluoroacetyl-l-lysine (TFAK) are non-canonical amino acids, which can be installed in proteins by genetic encoding. In addition, we describe a new aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase specific for N6-(((trimethylsilyl)methyl)-carbamoyl)-l-lysine (TMSNK), which is chemically more stable than TMSK. Using the dimeric SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) as a model system with three different ligands, we show that the 1H and 19F nuclei of the solvent-exposed trimethylsilyl and CF3 groups produce intense signals in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum. Their response to active-site ligands differed significantly when positioned near rather than far from the active site. Conversely, the NMR probes failed to confirm the previously reported binding site of the ligand pelitinib, which was found to enhance the activity of Mpro by promoting the formation of the enzymatically active dimer. In summary, the amino acids TMSK, TMSNK, and TFAK open an attractive path for site-specific NMR analysis of ligand binding to large proteins of limited stability and at low concentrations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kasuni B Ekanayake
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| | - Mithun C Mahawaththa
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| | - Haocheng Qianzhu
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra 2601, Australia
| | - Elwy H Abdelkader
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| | - Josemon George
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra 2601, Australia
| | - Sven Ullrich
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra 2601, Australia
| | - Rhys B Murphy
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra 2601, Australia
| | - Sarah E Fry
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Jason Johansen-Leete
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Richard J Payne
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Christoph Nitsche
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra 2601, Australia
| | - Thomas Huber
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra 2601, Australia
| | - Gottfried Otting
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Pakuła K, Sequeiros-Borja C, Biała-Leonhard W, Pawela A, Banasiak J, Bailly A, Radom M, Geisler M, Brezovsky J, Jasiński M. Restriction of access to the central cavity is a major contributor to substrate selectivity in plant ABCG transporters. Cell Mol Life Sci 2023; 80:105. [PMID: 36952129 PMCID: PMC10036432 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-023-04751-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Revised: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/24/2023]
Abstract
ABCG46 of the legume Medicago truncatula is an ABC-type transporter responsible for highly selective translocation of the phenylpropanoids, 4-coumarate, and liquiritigenin, over the plasma membrane. To investigate molecular determinants of the observed substrate selectivity, we applied a combination of phylogenetic and biochemical analyses, AlphaFold2 structure prediction, molecular dynamics simulations, and mutagenesis. We discovered an unusually narrow transient access path to the central cavity of MtABCG46 that constitutes an initial filter responsible for the selective translocation of phenylpropanoids through a lipid bilayer. Furthermore, we identified remote residue F562 as pivotal for maintaining the stability of this filter. The determination of individual amino acids that impact the selective transport of specialized metabolites may provide new opportunities associated with ABCGs being of interest, in many biological scenarios.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Konrad Pakuła
- Department of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Z. Noskowskiego 12/14, 61-704, Poznan, Poland
- NanoBioMedical Centre, Adam Mickiewicz University, Wszechnicy Piastowskiej 3, 61-614, Poznan, Poland
| | - Carlos Sequeiros-Borja
- Laboratory of Biomolecular Interactions and Transport, Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznanskiego 6, 61-614, Poznan, Poland
- International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, Ks. Trojdena 4, 02-109, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wanda Biała-Leonhard
- Department of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Z. Noskowskiego 12/14, 61-704, Poznan, Poland
| | - Aleksandra Pawela
- Department of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Z. Noskowskiego 12/14, 61-704, Poznan, Poland
| | - Joanna Banasiak
- Department of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Z. Noskowskiego 12/14, 61-704, Poznan, Poland
| | - Aurélien Bailly
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Marcin Radom
- Department of Structural Bioinformatics, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Z.Noskowskiego12/14, 61-704, Poznan, Poland
- Institute of Computing Science, Poznan University of Technology, Piotrowo 2, 60-965, Poznan, Poland
| | - Markus Geisler
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Chem. du Musée 10, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Jan Brezovsky
- Laboratory of Biomolecular Interactions and Transport, Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznanskiego 6, 61-614, Poznan, Poland.
- International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, Ks. Trojdena 4, 02-109, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Michał Jasiński
- Department of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Z. Noskowskiego 12/14, 61-704, Poznan, Poland.
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Dojazd 11, 60-632, Poznan, Poland.
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Crnković T, Bokor BJ, Lockwood ME, Cornish VW. Peptide Variant Detection by a Living Yeast Biosensor via an Epitope-Selective Protease. BIODESIGN RESEARCH 2023; 5:0003. [PMID: 37849458 PMCID: PMC10084949 DOI: 10.34133/bdr.0003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
We previously demonstrated that we could hijack the fungal pheromone signaling pathway to provide a living yeast biosensor where peptide biomarkers were recognized by G-protein-coupled receptors and engineered to transcribe a readout. Here, we demonstrated that the protease could be reintroduced to the biosensor to provide a simple mechanism for distinguishing single-amino-acid changes in peptide ligands that, otherwise, would likely be difficult to detect using binding-based assays. We characterized the dose-response curves for five fungal pheromone G-protein-coupled receptors, peptides, and proteases-Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Schizosaccharomyces octosporus, and Schizosaccharomyces japonicus. Alanine scanning was carried out for the most selective of these-S. cerevisiae and C. albicans-with and without the protease. Two peptide variants were discovered, which showed diminished cleavage by the protease (CaPep2A and CaPep2A13A). Those peptides were then distinguished by utilizing the biosensor strains with and without the protease, which selectively cleaved and altered the apparent concentration of peptide required for half-maximal activation for 2 peptides-CaPep and CaPep13A, respectively-by more than one order of magnitude. These results support the hypothesis that the living yeast biosensor with a sequence-specific protease can translate single-amino-acid changes into more than one order of magnitude apparent shift in the concentration of peptide required for half-maximal activation. With further engineering by computational modeling and directed evolution, the biosensor could likely distinguish a wide variety of peptide sequences beyond the alanine scanning carried out here. In the future, we envision incorporating proteases into our living yeast biosensor for use as a point of care diagnostic, a scalable communication language, and other applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tea Crnković
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Benjamin J. Bokor
- Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Mead E. Lockwood
- School of General Studies, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Virginia W. Cornish
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
- Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Chandra S, Manjunath K, Asok A, Varadarajan R. Mutational scan inferred binding energetics and structure in intrinsically disordered protein CcdA. Protein Sci 2023; 32:e4580. [PMID: 36714997 PMCID: PMC9951195 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4580] [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: 08/29/2022] [Revised: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Unlike globular proteins, mutational effects on the function of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) are not well-studied. Deep Mutational Scanning of a yeast surface displayed mutant library yields insights into sequence-function relationships in the CcdA IDP. The approach enables facile prediction of interface residues and local structural signatures of the bound conformation. In contrast to previous titration-based approaches which use a number of ligand concentrations, we show that use of a single rationally chosen ligand concentration can provide quantitative estimates of relative binding constants for large numbers of protein variants. This is because the extended interface of IDP ensures that energetic effects of point mutations are spread over a much smaller range than for globular proteins. Our data also provides insights into the much-debated role of helicity and disorder in partner binding of IDPs. Based on this exhaustive mutational sensitivity dataset, a rudimentary model was developed in an attempt to predict mutational effects on binding affinity of IDPs that form alpha-helical structures upon binding.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Aparna Asok
- Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of ScienceBangaloreIndia
| | | |
Collapse
|
40
|
Prion Propagation is Dependent on Key Amino Acids in Charge Cluster 2 within the Prion Protein. J Mol Biol 2023; 435:167925. [PMID: 36535427 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2022.167925] [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: 08/16/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
To dissect the N-terminal residues within the cellular prion protein (PrPC) that are critical for efficient prion propagation, we generated a library of point, double, or triple alanine replacements within residues 23-111 of PrP, stably expressed them in cells silenced for endogenous mouse PrPC and challenged the reconstituted cells with four common but biologically diverse mouse prion strains. Amino acids (aa) 105-111 of Charge Cluster 2 (CC2), which is disordered in PrPC, were found to be required for propagation of all four prion strains; other residues had no effect or exhibited strain-specific effects. Replacements in CC2, including aa105-111, dominantly inhibited prion propagation in the presence of endogenous wild type PrPC whilst other changes were not inhibitory. Single alanine replacements within aa105-111 identified leucine 108 and valine 111 or the cluster of lysine 105, threonine 106 and asparagine 107 as critical for prion propagation. These residues mediate specific ordering of unstructured CC2 into β-sheets in the infectious prion fibrils from Rocky Mountain Laboratory (RML) and ME7 mouse prion strains.
Collapse
|
41
|
Kaguchi R, Katsuyama A, Sato T, Takahashi S, Horiuchi M, Yokota SI, Ichikawa S. Discovery of Biologically Optimized Polymyxin Derivatives Facilitated by Peptide Scanning and In Situ Screening Chemistry. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:3665-3681. [PMID: 36708325 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c12971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Peptides can be converted to highly active compounds by introducing appropriate substituents on the suitable amino acid residue. Although modifiable residues in peptides can be systematically identified by peptide scanning methodologies, there is no practical method for optimization at the "scanned" position. With the purpose of using derivatives not only for scanning but also as a starting point for further chemical functionalization, we herein report the "scanning and direct derivatization" strategy through chemoselective acylation of embedded threonine residues by a serine/threonine ligation (STL) with the help of in situ screening chemistry. We have applied this strategy to the optimization of the polymyxin antibiotics, which were selected as a model system to highlight the power of the rapid derivatization of active scanning derivatives. Using this approach, we explored the structure-activity relationships of the polymyxins and successfully prepared derivatives with activity against polymyxin-resistant bacteria and those with Pseudomonas aeruginosa selective antibacterial activity. This strategy opens up efficient structural exploration and further optimization of peptide sequences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rintaro Kaguchi
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-6, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0812, Japan
| | - Akira Katsuyama
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-6, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0812, Japan.,Center for Research and Education on Drug Discovery, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-6, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0812, Japan.,Global Station for Biosurfaces and Drug Discovery, Global Institution for Collaborative Research and Education (GI-CoRE), Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-6, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0812, Japan
| | - Toyotaka Sato
- Laboratory of Veterinary Hygiene, School/Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita-18, Nishi-9, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0818, Japan.,Graduate School of Infectious Diseases, Hokkaido University, Kita-18, Nishi-9, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0818, Japan.,One Health Research Center, Hokkaido University, Kita-18, Nishi-9, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0818, Japan
| | - Satoshi Takahashi
- Department of Infection Control and Laboratory Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Minami-1, Nishi-16, Chuo-ku, Sapporo060-8543, Japan.,Division of Laboratory Medicine, Sapporo Medical University Hospital, Minami-1, Nishi-16, Chuo-ku, Sapporo060-8543, Japan
| | - Motohiro Horiuchi
- Laboratory of Veterinary Hygiene, School/Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita-18, Nishi-9, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0818, Japan.,Graduate School of Infectious Diseases, Hokkaido University, Kita-18, Nishi-9, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0818, Japan.,One Health Research Center, Hokkaido University, Kita-18, Nishi-9, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0818, Japan
| | - Shin-Ichi Yokota
- Department of Microbiology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Minami-1, Nishi-17, Chuo-ku, Sapporo060-8556, Japan
| | - Satoshi Ichikawa
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-6, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0812, Japan.,Center for Research and Education on Drug Discovery, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-6, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0812, Japan.,Global Station for Biosurfaces and Drug Discovery, Global Institution for Collaborative Research and Education (GI-CoRE), Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-6, Kita-ku, Sapporo060-0812, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Kulkarni V, Chellasamy SK, Dhangar S, Ghatanatti J, Vundinti BR. Comprehensive molecular analysis identifies eight novel variants in XY females with disorders of sex development. Mol Hum Reprod 2023; 29:6972780. [PMID: 36617173 PMCID: PMC10167928 DOI: 10.1093/molehr/gaad001] [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: 08/25/2022] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Disorders of sex development (DSD) are a group of clinical conditions with variable presentation and genetic background. Females with or without development of secondary sexual characters and presenting with primary amenorrhea (PA) and a 46,XY karyotype are one of the classified groups in DSD. In this study, we aimed to determine the genetic mutations in 25 females with PA and a 46,XY karyotype to show correlations with their phenotypes. Routine Sanger sequencing with candidate genes like SRY, AR, SRD5A2, and SF1, which are mainly responsible for 46,XY DSD in adolescent females, was performed. In a cohort of 25 patients of PA with 46,XY DSD, where routine Sanger sequencing failed to detect the mutations, next-generation sequencing of a targeted gene panel with 81 genes was used for the molecular diagnosis. The targeted sequencing identified a total of 21 mutations including 8 novel variants in 20 out of 25 patients with DSD. The most frequently identified mutations in our series were in AR (36%), followed by SRD5A2 (20%), SF1 (12%), DHX37 (4%), HSD17B3 (4%), and DMRT2 (4%). We could not find any mutation in the DSD-related genes in five (20%) patients due to complex molecular mechanisms in 46,XY DSD, highlighting the possibility of new DSD genes which are yet to be discovered in these disorders. In conclusion, genetic testing, including cytogenetics and molecular genetics, is important for the diagnosis and management of 46,XY DSD cases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vinayak Kulkarni
- Department of Anatomy, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Mumbai, India.,Department of Cytogenetics, ICMR-National Institute of Immunohematology, Mumbai, India
| | - Selvaa Kumar Chellasamy
- Bioinformatics Division, School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, D.Y. Patil Deemed to be University, Navi Mumbai, India
| | - Somprakash Dhangar
- Department of Cytogenetics, ICMR-National Institute of Immunohematology, Mumbai, India
| | | | - Babu Rao Vundinti
- Department of Cytogenetics, ICMR-National Institute of Immunohematology, Mumbai, India
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Dmitrieva DA, Kotova TV, Safronova NA, Sadova AA, Dashevskii DE, Mishin AV. Protein Design Strategies for the Structural–Functional Studies of G Protein-Coupled Receptors. BIOCHEMISTRY (MOSCOW) 2023; 88:S192-S226. [PMID: 37069121 DOI: 10.1134/s0006297923140110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are an important family of membrane proteins responsible for many physiological functions in human body. High resolution GPCR structures are required to understand their molecular mechanisms and perform rational drug design, as GPCRs play a crucial role in a variety of diseases. That is difficult to obtain for the wild-type proteins because of their low stability. In this review, we discuss how this problem can be solved by using protein design strategies developed to obtain homogeneous stabilized GPCR samples for crystallization and cryoelectron microscopy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daria A Dmitrieva
- Research Center for Molecular Mechanisms of Aging and Age-Related Diseases, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, 141701, Russia
| | - Tatiana V Kotova
- Research Center for Molecular Mechanisms of Aging and Age-Related Diseases, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, 141701, Russia
| | - Nadezda A Safronova
- Research Center for Molecular Mechanisms of Aging and Age-Related Diseases, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, 141701, Russia
| | - Alexandra A Sadova
- Research Center for Molecular Mechanisms of Aging and Age-Related Diseases, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, 141701, Russia
| | - Dmitrii E Dashevskii
- Research Center for Molecular Mechanisms of Aging and Age-Related Diseases, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, 141701, Russia
| | - Alexey V Mishin
- Research Center for Molecular Mechanisms of Aging and Age-Related Diseases, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, 141701, Russia.
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Lee J, Seok C, Ham S, Chong S. Atomic-level thermodynamics analysis of the binding free energy of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. Proteins 2023; 91:694-704. [PMID: 36564921 PMCID: PMC9880660 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Revised: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Understanding how protein-protein binding affinity is determined from molecular interactions at the interface is essential in developing protein therapeutics such as antibodies, but this has not yet been fully achieved. Among the major difficulties are the facts that it is generally difficult to decompose thermodynamic quantities into contributions from individual molecular interactions and that the solvent effect-dehydration penalty-must also be taken into consideration for every contact formation at the binding interface. Here, we present an atomic-level thermodynamics analysis that overcomes these difficulties and illustrate its utility through application to SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. Our analysis is based on the direct interaction energy computed from simulated antibody-protein complex structures and on the decomposition of solvation free energy change upon complex formation. We find that the formation of a single contact such as a hydrogen bond at the interface barely contributes to binding free energy due to the dehydration penalty. On the other hand, the simultaneous formation of multiple contacts between two interface residues favorably contributes to binding affinity. This is because the dehydration penalty is significantly alleviated: the total penalty for multiple contacts is smaller than a sum of what would be expected for individual dehydrations of those contacts. Our results thus provide a new perspective for designing protein therapeutics of improved binding affinity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jihyeon Lee
- Department of ChemistrySeoul National UniversitySeoulSouth Korea
| | - Chaok Seok
- Department of ChemistrySeoul National UniversitySeoulSouth Korea
| | - Sihyun Ham
- Department of ChemistrySookmyung Women's UniversitySeoulSouth Korea
| | - Song‐Ho Chong
- Global Center for Natural Resources Sciences, Faculty of Life SciencesKumamoto UniversityKumamotoJapan
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Rajkovic A, Kanchugal S, Abdurakhmanov E, Howard R, Wärmländer S, Erwin J, Barrera Saldaña HA, Gräslund A, Danielson H, Flores SC. Amino acid substitutions in human growth hormone affect secondary structure and receptor binding. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0282741. [PMID: 36952491 PMCID: PMC10035860 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The interaction between human Growth Hormone (hGH) and hGH Receptor (hGHR) has basic relevance to cancer and growth disorders, and hGH is the scaffold for Pegvisomant, an anti-acromegaly therapeutic. For the latter reason, hGH has been extensively engineered by early workers to improve binding and other properties. We are particularly interested in E174 which belongs to the hGH zinc-binding triad; the substitution E174A is known to significantly increase binding, but to now no explanation has been offered. We generated this and several computationally-selected single-residue substitutions at the hGHR-binding site of hGH. We find that, while many successfully slow down dissociation of the hGH-hGHR complex once bound, they also slow down the association of hGH to hGHR. The E174A substitution induces a change in the Circular Dichroism spectrum that suggests the appearance of coiled-coiling. Here we show that E174A increases affinity of hGH against hGHR because the off-rate is slowed down more than the on-rate. For E174Y (and certain mutations at other sites) the slowdown in on-rate was greater than that of the off-rate, leading to decreased affinity. The results point to a link between structure, zinc binding, and hGHR-binding affinity in hGH.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrei Rajkovic
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sandesh Kanchugal
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Rebecca Howard
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Frescati, Sweden
| | - Sebastian Wärmländer
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Frescati, Sweden
| | - Joseph Erwin
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Frescati, Sweden
| | | | - Astrid Gräslund
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Frescati, Sweden
| | | | - Samuel Coulbourn Flores
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Frescati, Sweden
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Fu Y, Bedő J, Papenfuss AT, Rubin AF. Integrating deep mutational scanning and low-throughput mutagenesis data to predict the impact of amino acid variants. Gigascience 2022; 12:giad073. [PMID: 37721410 PMCID: PMC10506130 DOI: 10.1093/gigascience/giad073] [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: 02/14/2023] [Revised: 07/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Evaluating the impact of amino acid variants has been a critical challenge for studying protein function and interpreting genomic data. High-throughput experimental methods like deep mutational scanning (DMS) can measure the effect of large numbers of variants in a target protein, but because DMS studies have not been performed on all proteins, researchers also model DMS data computationally to estimate variant impacts by predictors. RESULTS In this study, we extended a linear regression-based predictor to explore whether incorporating data from alanine scanning (AS), a widely used low-throughput mutagenesis method, would improve prediction results. To evaluate our model, we collected 146 AS datasets, mapping to 54 DMS datasets across 22 distinct proteins. CONCLUSIONS We show that improved model performance depends on the compatibility of the DMS and AS assays, and the scale of improvement is closely related to the correlation between DMS and AS results.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yunfan Fu
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Bioinformatics Division, 1G Royal Pde, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
- The University of Melbourne, Department of Medical Biology, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Justin Bedő
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Bioinformatics Division, 1G Royal Pde, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
- The University of Melbourne, Department of Medical Biology, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Anthony T Papenfuss
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Bioinformatics Division, 1G Royal Pde, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
- The University of Melbourne, Department of Medical Biology, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - Alan F Rubin
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Bioinformatics Division, 1G Royal Pde, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
- The University of Melbourne, Department of Medical Biology, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
47
|
Horkeby K, Farman HH, Movérare-Skrtic S, Lionikaite V, Wu J, Henning P, Windahl S, Sjögren K, Ohlsson C, Lagerquist MK. Phosphorylation of S122 in ERα is important for the skeletal response to estrogen treatment in male mice. Sci Rep 2022; 12:22449. [PMID: 36575297 PMCID: PMC9794719 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26939-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) signaling has beneficial skeletal effects in males. ERα signaling also affects other tissues, and to find bone-specific treatments, more knowledge regarding tissue-specific ERα signaling is needed. ERα is subjected to posttranslational modifications, including phosphorylation, which can influence ERα function in a tissue-specific manner. To determine the importance of phosphorylation site S122 (corresponding to human ERα site S118) for the skeleton and other tissues, male mice with a S122A mutation were used. Total areal bone mineral density was similar between gonadal intact S122A and WT littermates followed up to 12 months of age, and weights of estrogen-responsive organs normalized for body weight were unchanged between S122A and WT males at both 3 and 12 months of age. Interestingly, 12-month-old S122A males had decreased body weight compared to WT. To investigate if site S122 affects the estrogen response in bone and other tissues, 12-week-old S122A and WT males were orchidectomized (orx) and treated with estradiol (E2) or placebo pellets for four weeks. E2 increased cortical thickness in tibia in both orx WT (+ 60%, p < 0.001) and S122A (+ 45%, p < 0.001) males. However, the E2 effect on cortical thickness was significantly decreased in orx S122A compared to WT mice (- 24%, p < 0.05). In contrast, E2 affected trabecular bone and organ weights similarly in orx S122A and WT males. Thus, ERα phosphorylation site S122 is required for a normal E2 response specifically in cortical bone in male mice, a finding that may have implications for development of future treatments against male osteoporosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karin Horkeby
- grid.8761.80000 0000 9919 9582Sahlgrenska Osteoporosis Centre, Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research at Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Klinfarmlab, Vita Stråket 11, 413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Helen H. Farman
- grid.8761.80000 0000 9919 9582Sahlgrenska Osteoporosis Centre, Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research at Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Klinfarmlab, Vita Stråket 11, 413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Sofia Movérare-Skrtic
- grid.8761.80000 0000 9919 9582Sahlgrenska Osteoporosis Centre, Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research at Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Klinfarmlab, Vita Stråket 11, 413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Vikte Lionikaite
- grid.8761.80000 0000 9919 9582Sahlgrenska Osteoporosis Centre, Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research at Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Klinfarmlab, Vita Stråket 11, 413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Jianyao Wu
- grid.8761.80000 0000 9919 9582Sahlgrenska Osteoporosis Centre, Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research at Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Klinfarmlab, Vita Stråket 11, 413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Petra Henning
- grid.8761.80000 0000 9919 9582Sahlgrenska Osteoporosis Centre, Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research at Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Klinfarmlab, Vita Stråket 11, 413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Sara Windahl
- grid.8761.80000 0000 9919 9582Sahlgrenska Osteoporosis Centre, Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research at Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Klinfarmlab, Vita Stråket 11, 413 45 Göteborg, Sweden ,grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Klara Sjögren
- grid.8761.80000 0000 9919 9582Sahlgrenska Osteoporosis Centre, Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research at Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Klinfarmlab, Vita Stråket 11, 413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Claes Ohlsson
- grid.8761.80000 0000 9919 9582Sahlgrenska Osteoporosis Centre, Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research at Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Klinfarmlab, Vita Stråket 11, 413 45 Göteborg, Sweden ,grid.1649.a000000009445082XDepartment of Drug Treatment, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Region Västra Götaland, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Marie K. Lagerquist
- grid.8761.80000 0000 9919 9582Sahlgrenska Osteoporosis Centre, Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research at Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Klinfarmlab, Vita Stråket 11, 413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Wallon L, Khan I, Teng KW, Koide A, Zuberi M, Li J, Ketavarapu G, Traaseth NJ, O’Bryan JP, Koide S. Inhibition of RAS-driven signaling and tumorigenesis with a pan-RAS monobody targeting the Switch I/II pocket. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2204481119. [PMID: 36252024 PMCID: PMC9618066 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2204481119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
RAS mutants are major therapeutic targets in oncology with few efficacious direct inhibitors available. The identification of a shallow pocket near the Switch II region on RAS has led to the development of small-molecule drugs that target this site and inhibit KRAS(G12C) and KRAS(G12D). To discover other regions on RAS that may be targeted for inhibition, we have employed small synthetic binding proteins termed monobodies that have a strong propensity to bind to functional sites on a target protein. Here, we report a pan-RAS monobody, termed JAM20, that bound to all RAS isoforms with nanomolar affinity and demonstrated limited nucleotide-state specificity. Upon intracellular expression, JAM20 potently inhibited signaling mediated by all RAS isoforms and reduced oncogenic RAS-mediated tumorigenesis in vivo. NMR and mutation analysis determined that JAM20 bound to a pocket between Switch I and II, which is similarly targeted by low-affinity, small-molecule inhibitors, such as BI-2852, whose in vivo efficacy has not been demonstrated. Furthermore, JAM20 directly competed with both the RAF(RBD) and BI-2852. These results provide direct validation of targeting the Switch I/II pocket for inhibiting RAS-driven tumorigenesis. More generally, these results demonstrate the utility of tool biologics as probes for discovering and validating druggable sites on challenging targets.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Wallon
- Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY 10016
| | - Imran Khan
- Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425
- Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC 29401
| | - Kai Wen Teng
- Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY 10016
| | - Akiko Koide
- Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY 10016
- Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016
| | - Mariyam Zuberi
- Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425
- Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC 29401
| | - Jianping Li
- Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY 10003
| | - Gayatri Ketavarapu
- Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY 10016
| | | | - John P. O’Bryan
- Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425
- Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC 29401
| | - Shohei Koide
- Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY 10016
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Pratt EJ, Mancera-Andrade EI, Bicker KL. Synthesis and Characterization of Derivatives of the Antifungal Peptoid RMG8-8. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:36663-36671. [PMID: 36278036 PMCID: PMC9583092 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c04778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Cryptococcal meningitis, caused by the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, is a devastating disease with a mortality rate of over 80%. Due to the increasing prevalence of resistance to antifungals and the high mammalian toxicity of current treatments, the development of new antifungal therapies is vital. In an effort to improve the biological properties of a previously discovered antifungal peptoid, termed RMG8-8, an iterative structure-activity relationship study was conducted. This three-round study sought to optimize the structure of RMG8-8 by focusing on three main structural components: the lipophilic tail, aliphatic side chains, and aromatic side chains. In addition to antifungal testing against C. neoformans, cytotoxicity testing was also performed on all derivatives against human liver cells, and select promising compounds were tested for hemolytic activity against human red blood cells. A number of derivatives containing unique aliphatic or aromatic side chains had antifungal activity similar to RMG8-8 (MIC = 1.56 μg/mL), but all of these compounds were more toxic than RMG8-8. While no derivative was improved across all biological tests, modest improvements were made to the hemolytic activity with compound 9, containing isobutyl side chains in positions 2 and 5, compared to RMG8-8 (HC10 = 130 and 75 μg/mL, respectively). While this study did not yield a dramatically optimized RMG8-8 derivative, this result was not totally unexpected given the remarkable selectivity of this compound from discovery. Nonetheless, this study is an important step in the development of RMG8-8 as a viable antifungal therapeutic.
Collapse
|
50
|
Ahmed S, Chattopadhyay G, Manjunath K, Bhasin M, Singh N, Rasool M, Das S, Rana V, Khan N, Mitra D, Asok A, Singh R, Varadarajan R. Combining cysteine scanning with chemical labeling to map protein-protein interactions and infer bound structure in an intrinsically disordered region. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:997653. [PMID: 36275627 PMCID: PMC9585320 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.997653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome harbours nine toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems of the mazEF family. These consist of two proteins, a toxin and an antitoxin, encoded in an operon. While the toxin has a conserved fold, the antitoxins are structurally diverse and the toxin binding region is typically intrinsically disordered before binding. We describe high throughput methodology for accurate mapping of interfacial residues and apply it to three MazEF complexes. The method involves screening one partner protein against a panel of chemically masked single cysteine mutants of its interacting partner, displayed on the surface of yeast cells. Such libraries have much lower diversity than those generated by saturation mutagenesis, simplifying library generation and data analysis. Further, because of the steric bulk of the masking reagent, labeling of virtually all exposed epitope residues should result in loss of binding, and buried residues are inaccessible to the labeling reagent. The binding residues are deciphered by probing the loss of binding to the labeled cognate partner by flow cytometry. Using this methodology, we have identified the interfacial residues for MazEF3, MazEF6 and MazEF9 TA systems of M. tuberculosis. In the case of MazEF9, where a crystal structure was available, there was excellent agreement between our predictions and the crystal structure, superior to those with AlphaFold2. We also report detailed biophysical characterization of the MazEF3 and MazEF9 TA systems and measured the relative affinities between cognate and non-cognate toxin–antitoxin partners in order to probe possible cross-talk between these systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shahbaz Ahmed
- Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | | | | | - Munmun Bhasin
- Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Neelam Singh
- Tuberculosis Research Laboratory, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, India
| | - Mubashir Rasool
- Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Sayan Das
- Tuberculosis Research Laboratory, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, India
| | - Varsha Rana
- Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Neha Khan
- Tuberculosis Research Laboratory, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, India
| | - Debarghya Mitra
- Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Aparna Asok
- Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Ramandeep Singh
- Tuberculosis Research Laboratory, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, India
| | - Raghavan Varadarajan
- Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
- *Correspondence: Raghavan Varadarajan,
| |
Collapse
|