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Huang J, Osthushenrich T, MacNamara A, Mälarstig A, Brocchetti S, Bradberry S, Scarabottolo L, Ferrada E, Sosnin S, Digles D, Superti-Furga G, Ecker GF. ProteoMutaMetrics: machine learning approaches for solute carrier family 6 mutation pathogenicity prediction. RSC Adv 2024; 14:13083-13094. [PMID: 38655474 PMCID: PMC11034476 DOI: 10.1039/d4ra00748d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
The solute carrier transporter family 6 (SLC6) is of key interest for their critical role in the transport of small amino acids or amino acid-like molecules. Their dysfunction is strongly associated with human diseases such as including schizophrenia, depression, and Parkinson's disease. Linking single point mutations to disease may support insights into the structure-function relationship of these transporters. This work aimed to develop a computational model for predicting the potential pathogenic effect of single point mutations in the SLC6 family. Missense mutation data was retrieved from UniProt, LitVar, and ClinVar, covering multiple protein-coding transcripts. As encoding approach, amino acid descriptors were used to calculate the average sequence properties for both original and mutated sequences. In addition to the full-sequence calculation, the sequences were cut into twelve domains. The domains are defined according to the transmembrane domains of the SLC6 transporters to analyse the regions' contributions to the pathogenicity prediction. Subsequently, several classification models, namely Support Vector Machine (SVM), Logistic Regression (LR), Random Forest (RF), and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) with the hyperparameters optimized through grid search were built. For estimation of model performance, repeated stratified k-fold cross-validation was used. The accuracy values of the generated models are in the range of 0.72 to 0.80. Analysis of feature importance indicates that mutations in distinct regions of SLC6 transporters are associated with an increased risk for pathogenicity. When applying the model on an independent validation set, the performance in accuracy dropped to averagely 0.6 with high precision but low sensitivity scores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiahui Huang
- University of Vienna, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vienna Austria
| | - Tanja Osthushenrich
- Bayer AG, Division Pharmaceuticals, Biomedical Data Science II Wuppertal Germany
| | - Aidan MacNamara
- Bayer AG, Division Pharmaceuticals, Biomedical Data Science II Wuppertal Germany
| | - Anders Mälarstig
- Emerging Science & Innovation, Pfizer Worldwide Research, Development and Medical Cambridge MA USA
| | | | | | | | - Evandro Ferrada
- CeMM, Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Vienna Austria
| | - Sergey Sosnin
- University of Vienna, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vienna Austria
| | - Daniela Digles
- University of Vienna, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vienna Austria
| | - Giulio Superti-Furga
- CeMM, Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Vienna Austria
| | - Gerhard F Ecker
- University of Vienna, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vienna Austria
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2
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Bianchini G, Sánchez‐Baracaldo P. TreeViewer: Flexible, modular software to visualise and manipulate phylogenetic trees. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e10873. [PMID: 38314311 PMCID: PMC10834882 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Phylogenetic trees illustrate evolutionary relationships between taxa or genes. Tree figures are crucial when presenting results and data, and by creating clear and effective plots, researchers can describe many kinds of evolutionary patterns. However, producing tree plots can be a time-consuming task, especially as multiple different programs are often needed to adjust and illustrate all data associated with a tree. We present TreeViewer, a new software to draw phylogenetic trees. TreeViewer is flexible, modular, and user-friendly. Plots are produced as the result of a user-defined pipeline, which can be finely customised and easily applied to different trees. Every feature of the program is documented and easily accessible, either in the online manual or within the program's interface. We show how TreeViewer can be used to produce publication-ready figures, saving time by not requiring additional graphical post-processing tools. TreeViewer is freely available for Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems and distributed under an AGPLv3 licence from https://treeviewer.org. It has a graphical user interface (GUI), as well as a command-line interface, which is useful to work with very large trees and for automated pipelines. A detailed user manual with examples and tutorials is also available. TreeViewer is mainly aimed at users wishing to produce highly customised, publication-quality tree figures using a single GUI software tool. Compared to other GUI tools, TreeViewer offers a richer feature set and a finer degree of customisation. Compared to command-line-based tools and software libraries, TreeViewer's graphical interface is more accessible. The flexibility of TreeViewer's approach to phylogenetic tree plotting enables the program to produce a wide variety of publication-ready figures. Users are encouraged to create their own custom modules to expand the functionalities of the program. This sets the scene for an ever-expanding and ever-adapting software framework that can easily adjust to respond to new challenges.
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Chelaghma S, Ke H, Barylyuk K, Krueger T, Koreny L, Waller RF. Apical annuli are specialised sites of post-invasion secretion of dense granules in Toxoplasma. eLife 2024; 13:e94201. [PMID: 38270431 PMCID: PMC10857790 DOI: 10.7554/elife.94201] [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: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Apicomplexans are ubiquitous intracellular parasites of animals. These parasites use a programmed sequence of secretory events to find, invade, and then re-engineer their host cells to enable parasite growth and proliferation. The secretory organelles micronemes and rhoptries mediate the first steps of invasion. Both secrete their contents through the apical complex which provides an apical opening in the parasite's elaborate inner membrane complex (IMC) - an extensive subpellicular system of flattened membrane cisternae and proteinaceous meshwork that otherwise limits access of the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane for material exchange with the cell exterior. After invasion, a second secretion programme drives host cell remodelling and occurs from dense granules. The site(s) of dense granule exocytosis, however, has been unknown. In Toxoplasma gondii, small subapical annular structures that are embedded in the IMC have been observed, but the role or significance of these apical annuli to plasma membrane function has also been unknown. Here, we determined that integral membrane proteins of the plasma membrane occur specifically at these apical annular sites, that these proteins include SNARE proteins, and that the apical annuli are sites of vesicle fusion and exocytosis. Specifically, we show that dense granules require these structures for the secretion of their cargo proteins. When secretion is perturbed at the apical annuli, parasite growth is strongly impaired. The apical annuli, therefore, represent a second type of IMC-embedded structure to the apical complex that is specialised for protein secretion, and reveal that in Toxoplasma there is a physical separation of the processes of pre- and post-invasion secretion that mediate host-parasite interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Chelaghma
- Department of Biochemistry, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
| | - Huiling Ke
- Department of Biochemistry, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
| | | | - Thomas Krueger
- Department of Biochemistry, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
| | - Ludek Koreny
- Department of Biochemistry, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
| | - Ross F Waller
- Department of Biochemistry, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
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Ferrada E, Wiedmer T, Wang WA, Frommelt F, Steurer B, Klimek C, Lindinger S, Osthushenrich T, Garofoli A, Brocchetti S, Bradberry S, Huang J, MacNamara A, Scarabottolo L, Ecker GF, Malarstig A, Superti-Furga G. Experimental and Computational Analysis of Newly Identified Pathogenic Mutations in the Creatine Transporter SLC6A8. J Mol Biol 2024; 436:168383. [PMID: 38070861 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2023.168383] [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: 08/22/2023] [Revised: 11/26/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
Creatine is an essential metabolite for the storage and rapid supply of energy in muscle and nerve cells. In humans, impaired metabolism, transport, and distribution of creatine throughout tissues can cause varying forms of mental disability, also known as creatine deficiency syndrome (CDS). So far, 80 mutations in the creatine transporter (SLC6A8) have been associated to CDS. To better understand the effect of human genetic variants on the physiology of SLC6A8 and their possible impact on CDS, we studied 30 missense variants including 15 variants of unknown significance, two of which are reported here for the first time. We expressed these variants in HEK293 cells and explored their subcellular localization and transport activity. We also applied computational methods to predict variant effect and estimate site-specific changes in thermodynamic stability. To explore variants that might have a differential effect on the transporter's conformers along the transport cycle, we constructed homology models of the inward facing, and outward facing conformations. In addition, we used mass-spectrometry to study proteins that interact with wild type SLC6A8 and five selected variants in HEK293 cells. In silico models of the protein complexes revealed how two variants impact the interaction interface of SLC6A8 with other proteins and how pathogenic variants lead to an enrichment of ER protein partners. Overall, our integrated analysis disambiguates the pathogenicity of 15 variants of unknown significance revealing diverse mechanisms of pathogenicity, including two previously unreported variants obtained from patients suffering from the creatine deficiency syndrome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evandro Ferrada
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Tabea Wiedmer
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Wen-An Wang
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Fabian Frommelt
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Barbara Steurer
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christoph Klimek
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sabrina Lindinger
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Andrea Garofoli
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | | | | | - Jiahui Huang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | | | | | - Gerhard F Ecker
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anders Malarstig
- Pfizer Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Giulio Superti-Furga
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria; Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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Schlosser P, Scherer N, Grundner-Culemann F, Monteiro-Martins S, Haug S, Steinbrenner I, Uluvar B, Wuttke M, Cheng Y, Ekici AB, Gyimesi G, Karoly ED, Kotsis F, Mielke J, Gomez MF, Yu B, Grams ME, Coresh J, Boerwinkle E, Köttgen M, Kronenberg F, Meiselbach H, Mohney RP, Akilesh S, Schmidts M, Hediger MA, Schultheiss UT, Eckardt KU, Oefner PJ, Sekula P, Li Y, Köttgen A. Genetic studies of paired metabolomes reveal enzymatic and transport processes at the interface of plasma and urine. Nat Genet 2023:10.1038/s41588-023-01409-8. [PMID: 37277652 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-023-01409-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The kidneys operate at the interface of plasma and urine by clearing molecular waste products while retaining valuable solutes. Genetic studies of paired plasma and urine metabolomes may identify underlying processes. We conducted genome-wide studies of 1,916 plasma and urine metabolites and detected 1,299 significant associations. Associations with 40% of implicated metabolites would have been missed by studying plasma alone. We detected urine-specific findings that provide information about metabolite reabsorption in the kidney, such as aquaporin (AQP)-7-mediated glycerol transport, and different metabolomic footprints of kidney-expressed proteins in plasma and urine that are consistent with their localization and function, including the transporters NaDC3 (SLC13A3) and ASBT (SLC10A2). Shared genetic determinants of 7,073 metabolite-disease combinations represent a resource to better understand metabolic diseases and revealed connections of dipeptidase 1 with circulating digestive enzymes and with hypertension. Extending genetic studies of the metabolome beyond plasma yields unique insights into processes at the interface of body compartments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pascal Schlosser
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - Nora Scherer
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Franziska Grundner-Culemann
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Sara Monteiro-Martins
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Stefan Haug
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Inga Steinbrenner
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Burulça Uluvar
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Wuttke
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Yurong Cheng
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Arif B Ekici
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Gergely Gyimesi
- Membrane Transport Discovery Lab, Department of Nephrology and Hypertension and Department of Biomedical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Fruzsina Kotsis
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Department of Medicine IV-Nephrology and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Johanna Mielke
- Research and Early Development, Pharmaceuticals Division, Bayer AG, Wuppertal, Germany
| | - Maria F Gomez
- Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö, Lund University Diabetes Centre, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Bing Yu
- Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Morgan E Grams
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Josef Coresh
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Eric Boerwinkle
- Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Michael Köttgen
- Department of Medicine IV-Nephrology and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies (CIBSS), Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Florian Kronenberg
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Genetics, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Heike Meiselbach
- Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | | | - Shreeram Akilesh
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Miriam Schmidts
- Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies (CIBSS), Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Freiburg University Faculty of Medicine, Center for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Matthias A Hediger
- Membrane Transport Discovery Lab, Department of Nephrology and Hypertension and Department of Biomedical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Ulla T Schultheiss
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Department of Medicine IV-Nephrology and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Kai-Uwe Eckardt
- Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
- Department of Nephrology and Medical Intensive Care, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Peter J Oefner
- Institute of Functional Genomics, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Peggy Sekula
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Yong Li
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Anna Köttgen
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
- Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies (CIBSS), Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
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