1
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Bakker MJ, Svensson O, So Rensen HV, Skepö M. Exploring the Functional Landscape of the p53 Regulatory Domain: The Stabilizing Role of Post-Translational Modifications. J Chem Theory Comput 2024. [PMID: 38973087 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/09/2024]
Abstract
This study focuses on the intrinsically disordered regulatory domain of p53 and the impact of post-translational modifications. Through fully atomistic explicit water molecular dynamics simulations, we show the wealth of information and detailed understanding that can be obtained by varying the number of phosphorylated amino acids and implementing a restriction in the conformational entropy of the N-termini of that intrinsically disordered region. The take-home message for the reader is to achieve a detailed understanding of the impact of phosphorylation with respect to (1) the conformational dynamics and flexibility, (2) structural effects, (3) protein interactivity, and (4) energy landscapes and conformational ensembles. Although our model system is the regulatory domain p53 of the tumor suppressor protein p53, this study contributes to understanding the general effects of intrinsically disordered phosphorylated proteins and the impact of phosphorylated groups, more specifically, how minor changes in the primary sequence can affect the properties mentioned above.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Bakker
- Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University, Akademika Heyrovského 1203/8, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
- Division of Computational Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
| | - Oskar Svensson
- Division of Computational Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
- NanoLund, Lund University, Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
| | - Henrik V So Rensen
- Division of Computational Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
- MAX IV Laboratory, Fotongatan 2, 224 84 Lund, Sweden
| | - Marie Skepö
- Division of Computational Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
- NanoLund, Lund University, Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
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2
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Bickel D, Vranken W. Effects of Phosphorylation on Protein Backbone Dynamics and Conformational Preferences. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:4998-5011. [PMID: 38830621 PMCID: PMC11210476 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00206] [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: 02/19/2024] [Revised: 05/22/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Phosphorylations are the most common and extensively studied post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins in eukaryotes. They constitute a major regulatory mechanism, modulating protein function, protein-protein interactions, as well as subcellular localization. Phosphorylation sites are preferably located in intrinsically disordered regions and have been shown to trigger structural rearrangements and order-to-disorder transitions. They can therefore have a significant effect on protein backbone dynamics or conformation, but only sparse experimental data are available. To obtain a more general description of how and when phosphorylations have a significant effect on protein behavior, molecular dynamics (MD) currently provides the only suitable framework to study these effects at a large scale in atomistic detail. This study develops a systematic MD simulation framework to explore the influence of phosphorylations on the local backbone dynamics and conformational propensities of proteins. Through a series of glycine-backbone peptides, we studied the effects of amino acid residues including the three most common phosphorylations (Ser, Thr, and Tyr), on local backbone dynamics and conformational propensities. We further extended our study to investigate the interactions of all such residues between position i to positions i + 1, i + 2, i + 3, and i + 4 in such peptides. The final data set comprises structural ensembles for 3393 sequences with more than 1 μs of sampling for each ensemble. To validate the relevance of the results, the structural and conformational properties extracted from the MD simulations are compared to NMR data from the Biological Magnetic Resonance Data Bank. The systematic nature of this study enables the projection of the gained knowledge onto any phosphorylation site in the proteome and provides a general framework for the study of further PTMs. The full data set is publicly available, as a training and reference set.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Bickel
- Interuniversity
Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
- Structural
Biology Brussels, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Wim Vranken
- Interuniversity
Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
- Structural
Biology Brussels, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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3
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Usher ET, Fossat MJ, Holehouse AS. Phosphorylation of disordered proteins tunes local and global intramolecular interactions. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.10.598315. [PMID: 38915510 PMCID: PMC11195077 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.10.598315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/26/2024]
Abstract
Protein post-translational modifications, such as phosphorylation, are important regulatory signals for diverse cellular functions. In particular, intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDRs) are subject to phosphorylation as a means to modulate their interactions and functions. Toward understanding the relationship between phosphorylation in IDRs and specific functional outcomes, we must consider how phosphorylation affects the IDR conformational ensemble. Various experimental techniques are suited to interrogate the features of IDR ensembles; molecular simulations can provide complementary insights and even illuminate ensemble features that may be experimentally inaccessible. Therefore, we sought to expand the tools available to study phosphorylated IDRs by all-atom Monte Carlo simulations. To this end, we implemented parameters for phosphoserine (pSer) and phosphothreonine (pThr) into the OPLS version of the continuum solvent model, ABSINTH, and assessed their performance in all-atom simulations compared to published findings. We simulated short (< 20 residues) and long (> 80 residues) phospho-IDRs that, collectively, survey both local and global phosphorylation-induced changes to the ensemble. Our simulations of four well-studied phospho-IDRs show near-quantitative agreement with published findings for these systems via metrics including changes to radius of gyration, transient helicity, and persistence length. We also leveraged the inherent advantage of sequence control in molecular simulations to explore the conformational effects of diverse combinations of phospho-sites in two multi-phosphorylated IDRs. Our results support and expand on prior observations that connect phosphorylation to changes in the IDR conformational ensemble. Herein, we describe phosphorylation as a means to alter sequence chemistry, net charge and charge patterning, and intramolecular interactions, which can collectively modulate the local and global IDR ensemble features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emery T. Usher
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Center for Biomolecular Condensates (CBC), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Martin J. Fossat
- Department of Biological Physics, Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Alex S. Holehouse
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Center for Biomolecular Condensates (CBC), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
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4
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Bakker M, Sørensen HV, Skepö M. Exploring the Role of Globular Domain Locations on an Intrinsically Disordered Region of p53: A Molecular Dynamics Investigation. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:1423-1433. [PMID: 38230670 PMCID: PMC10867847 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 12/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2024]
Abstract
The pre-tetramerization loop (PTL) of the human tumor suppressor protein p53 is an intrinsically disordered region (IDR) necessary for the tetramerization process, and its flexibility contributes to the essential conformational changes needed. Although the IDR can be accurately simulated in the traditional manner of molecular dynamics (MD) with the end-to-end distance (EEdist) unhindered, we sought to explore the effects of restraining the EEdist to the values predicted by electron microscopy (EM) and other distances. Simulating the PTL trajectory with a restrained EEdist , we found an increased agreement of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shifts with experiments. Additionally, we observed a plethora of secondary structures and contacts that only appear when the trajectory is restrained. Our findings expand the understanding of the tetramerization of p53 and provide insight into how mutations could make the protein impotent. In particular, our findings demonstrate the importance of restraining the EEdist in studying IDRs and how their conformations change under different conditions. Our results provide a better understanding of the PTL and the conformational dynamics of IDRs in general, which are useful for further studies regarding mutations and their effects on the activity of p53.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael
J. Bakker
- Faculty
of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University, Akademika Heyrovského 1203/8, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
- Division
of Computational Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
| | - Henrik V. Sørensen
- Division
of Computational Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
- MAX
IV Laboratory, Lund Institute of Advanced
Neutron and X-ray Science, Scheelevägen 19, SE-223 770 Lund, Sweden
| | - Marie Skepö
- Division
of Computational Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
- LINXS
- Institute of Advanced Neutron and X-ray Science, Scheelevägen 19, SE-233 70 Lund, Sweden
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5
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Menchon G, Maveyraud L, Czaplicki G. Molecular Dynamics as a Tool for Virtual Ligand Screening. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2714:33-83. [PMID: 37676592 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3441-7_3] [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] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
Rational drug design is essential for new drugs to emerge, especially when the structure of a target protein or nucleic acid is known. To that purpose, high-throughput virtual ligand screening campaigns aim at discovering computationally new binding molecules or fragments to modulate particular biomolecular interactions or biological activities, related to a disease process. The structure-based virtual ligand screening process primarily relies on docking methods which allow predicting the binding of a molecule to a biological target structure with a correct conformation and the best possible affinity. The docking method itself is not sufficient as it suffers from several and crucial limitations (lack of full protein flexibility information, no solvation and ion effects, poor scoring functions, and unreliable molecular affinity estimation).At the interface of computer techniques and drug discovery, molecular dynamics (MD) allows introducing protein flexibility before or after a docking protocol, refining the structure of protein-drug complexes in the presence of water, ions, and even in membrane-like environments, describing more precisely the temporal evolution of the biological complex and ranking these complexes with more accurate binding energy calculations. In this chapter, we describe the up-to-date MD, which plays the role of supporting tools in the virtual ligand screening (VS) process.Without a doubt, using docking in combination with MD is an attractive approach in structure-based drug discovery protocols nowadays. It has proved its efficiency through many examples in the literature and is a powerful method to significantly reduce the amount of required wet experimentations (Tarcsay et al, J Chem Inf Model 53:2990-2999, 2013; Barakat et al, PLoS One 7:e51329, 2012; De Vivo et al, J Med Chem 59:4035-4061, 2016; Durrant, McCammon, BMC Biol 9:71-79, 2011; Galeazzi, Curr Comput Aided Drug Des 5:225-240, 2009; Hospital et al, Adv Appl Bioinforma Chem 8:37-47, 2015; Jiang et al, Molecules 20:12769-12786, 2015; Kundu et al, J Mol Graph Model 61:160-174, 2015; Mirza et al, J Mol Graph Model 66:99-107, 2016; Moroy et al, Future Med Chem 7:2317-2331, 2015; Naresh et al, J Mol Graph Model 61:272-280, 2015; Nichols et al, J Chem Inf Model 51:1439-1446, 2011; Nichols et al, Methods Mol Biol 819:93-103, 2012; Okimoto et al, PLoS Comput Biol 5:e1000528, 2009; Rodriguez-Bussey et al, Biopolymers 105:35-42, 2016; Sliwoski et al, Pharmacol Rev 66:334-395, 2014).
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Affiliation(s)
- Grégory Menchon
- Inserm U1242, Oncogenesis, Stress and Signaling (OSS), Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, France
| | - Laurent Maveyraud
- Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Structurale (IPBS), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Toulouse, France
| | - Georges Czaplicki
- Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Structurale (IPBS), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Toulouse, France.
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6
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Sharma B, Mattaparthi VSK. Prediction of interface between regions of varying degrees of order or disorderness in intrinsically disordered proteins from dihedral angles. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023:1-11. [PMID: 38116756 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2294837] [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: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are proteins that do not form uniquely defined three-dimensional (3-D) structures. Experimental research on IDPs is difficult since they go against the traditional protein structure-function paradigm. Although there are several predictors of disorder based on amino acid sequences, but very limited based on the 3-D structures of proteins. Dihedral angles have a significant role in predicting protein structure because they establish a protein's backbone, which, coupled with its side chain, establishes its overall shape. Here, we have carried out atomistic Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations on four different proteins: one ordered protein (Monellin), two partially disordered proteins (p53-TAD and Amyloid beta (Aβ1-42) peptide), and one completely disordered protein (Histatin 5). The MD simulation trajectories for the corresponding four proteins were used to conduct dihedral angle (ϕ and ѱ) analysis. Then, the average dihedral angles for each of the residues were calculated and plotted against the residue index. We noticed steep rises or falls in the average ϕ value at certain locations in the plot. These sudden shifts in the average ϕ value reflect the interface between regions of varying degrees of order or disorderness in intrinsically disordered proteins. Using this method, the probable conformer of a protein with a higher degree of disorder can be found among the ensembles of structures sampled during the MD simulations. The results of our study offer new understandings on precisely identifying regions of various degrees of disorder in intrinsically disordered proteins.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Babli Sharma
- Molecular Modelling and Simulation Laboratory, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Assam, India
| | - Venkata Satish Kumar Mattaparthi
- Molecular Modelling and Simulation Laboratory, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Assam, India
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7
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Balasubramanian S, Maharana S, Srivastava A. "Boundary residues" between the folded RNA recognition motif and disordered RGG domains are critical for FUS-RNA binding. J Biol Chem 2023; 299:105392. [PMID: 37890778 PMCID: PMC10687056 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105392] [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] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Revised: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Fused in sarcoma (FUS) is an abundant RNA-binding protein, which drives phase separation of cellular condensates and plays multiple roles in RNA regulation. The RNA-binding ability of FUS protein is crucial to its cellular function. Here, our molecular simulation study on the FUS-RNA complex provides atomic resolution insights into the observations from biochemical studies and also illuminates our understanding of molecular driving forces that mediate the structure, stability, and interaction of the RNA recognition motif (RRM) and RGG domains of FUS with a stem-loop junction RNA. We observe clear cooperativity and division of labor among the ordered (RRM) and disordered domains (RGG1 and RGG2) of FUS that leads to an organized and tighter RNA binding. Irrespective of the length of RGG2, the RGG2-RNA interaction is confined to the stem-loop junction and the proximal stem regions. On the other hand, the RGG1 interactions are primarily with the longer RNA stem. We find that the C terminus of RRM, which make up the "boundary residues" that connect the folded RRM with the long disordered RGG2 stretch of the protein, plays a critical role in FUS-RNA binding. Our study provides high-resolution molecular insights into the FUS-RNA interactions and forms the basis for understanding the molecular origins of full-length FUS interaction with RNA.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Shovamayee Maharana
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
| | - Anand Srivastava
- Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
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8
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Amith W, Dutagaci B. Complex Conformational Space of the RNA Polymerase II C-Terminal Domain upon Phosphorylation. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:9223-9235. [PMID: 37870995 PMCID: PMC10626582 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c02655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) have been closely studied during the past decade due to their importance in many biological processes. The disordered nature of this group of proteins makes it difficult to observe its full span of the conformational space using either experimental or computational studies. In this article, we explored the conformational space of the C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II (Pol II), which is also an intrinsically disordered low complexity domain, using enhanced sampling methods. We provided a detailed conformational analysis of model systems of CTD with different lengths; first with the last 44 residues of the human CTD sequence and finally the CTD model with 2-heptapeptide repeating units. We then investigated the effects of phosphorylation on CTD conformations by performing simulations at different phosphorylated states. We obtained broad conformational spaces in nonphosphorylated CTD models, and phosphorylation has complex effects on the conformations of the CTD. These complex effects depend on the length of the CTD, spacing between the multiple phosphorylation sites, ion coordination, and interactions with the nearby residues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weththasinghage
D. Amith
- Department of Molecular and
Cell Biology, University of California,
Merced, Merced, California 95343, United States
| | - Bercem Dutagaci
- Department of Molecular and
Cell Biology, University of California,
Merced, Merced, California 95343, United States
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9
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Huang C, Pettitt BM. Parameter Dependence of the Solubility Limit for Disodium Phosphate. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:8690-8696. [PMID: 37788371 PMCID: PMC10913426 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c05343] [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] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
The solubility limit was calculated for supersaturated solutions of disodium phosphate in water as a function of the sodium-oxygen Lennard-Jones radius parameter Rmin. We found that changes in the sodium-oxygen Rmin were clearly exponentially related to the concentration of the solubility limit. Starting from standard force fields more suited to nucleic acids and phospholipids, only relatively small changes were required to achieve the experimentally known solubility limit. Simultaneously, we found that it was possible to achieve the solubility limit and the osmotic pressure with the same model parameters. Based on transferability, the adjusted Rmin parameter can be used to more accurately model phosphorylated proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caleb Huang
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-0304, United States
| | - B Montgomery Pettitt
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-0304, United States
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10
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Chen F, Chai YH, Zhang F, Liu YQ, Zhang Y, Shi YJ, Zhang JM, Leng YF. Network pharmacology analysis combined with experimental validation to explore the therapeutic mechanism of salidroside on intestine ischemia reperfusion. Biosci Rep 2023; 43:BSR20230539. [PMID: 37530723 PMCID: PMC10462912 DOI: 10.1042/bsr20230539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Salidroside (SAL), a phenolic natural product present in Rhodiola rosea, are commonly used in the treatment of various ischemic-hypoxic diseases, including intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. However, their efficacy and potential mechanisms in the treatment of intestinal IR injury have not been investigated. OBJECTIVE The objective of the present study is to investigate the pharmacological mechanism of action of SAL on intestinal IR injury using a network pharmacology approach combined with experimental validation. METHODS In the present study, we used the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systematic Pharmacology (TCMSP) database and analysis platform and Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) to predict possible target genes of SAL, collected relevant target genes of intestinal IR injury from GeneCards and DisGenet websites, and collected summary data to screen common target genes. Then, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) target network was constructed and analyzed by STRING database and Cytoscape 3.8.2 with the above intersecting genes. Then, gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed and the component-target-pathway network was constructed, followed by the use of molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation to verify the possible binding conformation between SAL and candidate targets to further explore the potential targets of SAL in the treatment of intestinal IR injury. Finally, an in vivo model of mouse superior mesenteric artery ligation was established to assess the anti-intestinal IR injury effect of SAL by assessing histopathological changes in mouse small intestine by HE staining, detecting inflammatory factor expression by ELISA kit, and detecting the expression of key protein targets by Western blotting. RESULTS A total of 166 SAL target genes and 1740 disease-related targets were retrieved, and 88 overlapping proteins were obtained as potential therapeutic targets. The pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the pharmacological effects of SAL on intestinal IR injury were anti-hypoxic, anti-inflammatory and metabolic pathway related, and the molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation results showed that the core bioactive components had good binding affinity for TXNIP and AMPK, and the immunoblotting results indicated that the expression levels of TXNIP and AMPK in the small intestinal tissues of mice in the drug-treated group compared with the model group were significantly changed. CONCLUSION SAL may target AMPK and TXNIP domains to act as a therapeutic agent for intestinal IR. These findings comprehensively reveal the potential therapeutic targets for SAL against intestinal IR and provide theoretical basis for the clinical application of SAL in the treatment of intestinal IR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Chen
- The First Clinical Medical College of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, GanSu Province, China
- Department of Anesthesiology, First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, GanSu Province, China
| | - Yi-hong Chai
- The First Clinical Medical College of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, GanSu Province, China
| | - Fa Zhang
- Department of Urology, Gansu Provincial Hospital, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Yong-qiang Liu
- The First Clinical Medical College of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, GanSu Province, China
- Department of Anesthesiology, First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, GanSu Province, China
| | - Yan Zhang
- The First Clinical Medical College of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, GanSu Province, China
- Department of Anesthesiology, First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, GanSu Province, China
| | - Ya-jing Shi
- The First Clinical Medical College of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, GanSu Province, China
| | - Jian-ming Zhang
- The First Clinical Medical College of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, GanSu Province, China
| | - Yu-fang Leng
- The First Clinical Medical College of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, GanSu Province, China
- Department of Anesthesiology, First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, GanSu Province, China
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11
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Xu X, Liu A, Liu S, Ma Y, Zhang X, Zhang M, Zhao J, Sun S, Sun X. Application of molecular dynamics simulation in self-assembled cancer nanomedicine. Biomater Res 2023; 27:39. [PMID: 37143168 PMCID: PMC10161522 DOI: 10.1186/s40824-023-00386-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Self-assembled nanomedicine holds great potential in cancer theragnostic. The structures and dynamics of nanomedicine can be affected by a variety of non-covalent interactions, so it is essential to ensure the self-assembly process at atomic level. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is a key technology to link microcosm and macroscale. Along with the rapid development of computational power and simulation methods, scientists could simulate the specific process of intermolecular interactions. Thus, some experimental observations could be explained at microscopic level and the nanomedicine synthesis process would have traces to follow. This review not only outlines the concept, basic principle, and the parameter setting of MD simulation, but also highlights the recent progress in MD simulation for self-assembled cancer nanomedicine. In addition, the physicochemical parameters of self-assembly structure and interaction between various assembled molecules under MD simulation are also discussed. Therefore, this review will help advanced and novice researchers to quickly zoom in on fundamental information and gather some thought-provoking ideas to advance this subfield of self-assembled cancer nanomedicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueli Xu
- School of Science, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, 250101, China
| | - Ao Liu
- School of Science, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, 250101, China
| | - Shuangqing Liu
- School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, 250000, China
| | - Yanling Ma
- School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, 250000, China
| | - Xinyu Zhang
- School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, 250000, China
| | - Meng Zhang
- School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, 250000, China
| | - Jinhua Zhao
- School of Science, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, 250101, China
| | - Shuo Sun
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, 02115, USA
| | - Xiao Sun
- School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, 250000, China.
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12
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Saurabh S, Nadendla K, Purohit SS, Sivakumar PM, Cetinel S. Fuzzy Drug Targets: Disordered Proteins in the Drug-Discovery Realm. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:9729-9747. [PMID: 36969402 PMCID: PMC10034788 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c07708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and regions (IDRs) form a large part of the eukaryotic proteome. Contrary to the structure-function paradigm, the disordered proteins perform a myriad of functions in vivo. Consequently, they are involved in various disease pathways and are plausible drug targets. Unlike folded proteins, that have a defined structure and well carved out drug-binding pockets that can guide lead molecule selection, the disordered proteins require alternative drug-development methodologies that are based on an acceptable picture of their conformational ensemble. In this review, we discuss various experimental and computational techniques that contribute toward understanding IDP "structure" and describe representative pursuances toward IDP-targeting drug development. We also discuss ideas on developing rational drug design protocols targeting IDPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suman Saurabh
- Molecular
Sciences Research Hub, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London W12 0BZ, U.K.
| | - Karthik Nadendla
- Center
for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, Lensfield
Road, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K.
| | - Shubh Sanket Purohit
- Department
of Clinical Haematology, Sahyadri Superspeciality
Hospital, Pune, Maharashtra 411038, India
| | - Ponnurengam Malliappan Sivakumar
- Institute
of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam
- School
of Medicine and Pharmacy, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam
- Nanotechnology
Research and Application Center (SUNUM), Sabanci University, Istanbul 34956, Turkey
| | - Sibel Cetinel
- Nanotechnology
Research and Application Center (SUNUM), Sabanci University, Istanbul 34956, Turkey
- Faculty of
Engineering and Natural Sciences, Molecular Biology, Genetics and
Bioengineering Program, Sabanci University, Istanbul 34956, Turkey
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13
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Damodaran K, Khan T, Bickel D, Jaya S, Vranken WF, Sudandiradoss C. New simulation insights on the structural transition mechanism of bovine rhodopsin activation. Proteins 2023; 91:771-780. [PMID: 36629258 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26465] [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: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Inactive rhodopsin can absorb photons, which induces different structural transitions that finally activate rhodopsin. We have examined the change in spatial configurations and physicochemical factors that result during the transition mechanism from the inactive to the active rhodopsin state via intermediates. During the activation process, many existing atomic contacts are disrupted, and new ones are formed. This is related to the movement of Helix 5, which tilts away from Helix 3 in the intermediate state in lumirhodopsin and moves closer to Helix 3 again in the active state. Similar patterns of changing atomic contacts are observed between Helices 3 and 5 of the adenosine and neurotensin receptors. In addition, residues 220-238 of rhodopsin, which are disordered in the inactive state, fold in the active state before binding to the Gα, where it catalyzes GDP/GTP exchange on the Gα subunit. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations in the membrane environment revealed that the arrestin binding region adopts a more flexible extended conformation upon phosphorylation, likely promoting arrestin binding and inactivation. In summary, our results provide additional structural understanding of specific rhodopsin activation which might be relevant to other Class A G protein-coupled receptor proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamalesh Damodaran
- Department of Integrative Biology, School of Bioscience and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India.,Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, ULB/VUB, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Taushif Khan
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, ULB/VUB, Brussels, Belgium.,Structural Biology Brussels, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - David Bickel
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, ULB/VUB, Brussels, Belgium.,Structural Biology Brussels, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Sreeshma Jaya
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India
| | - Wim F Vranken
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, ULB/VUB, Brussels, Belgium.,Structural Biology Brussels, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Chinnappan Sudandiradoss
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India
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14
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Cao JF, Gong Y, Wu M, Xiong L, Chen S, Huang H, Zhou X, Peng YC, Shen XF, Qu J, Wang YL, Zhang X. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics study Lianhua Qingwen granules (LHQW) treats COVID-19 by inhibiting inflammatory response and regulating cell survival. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:1044770. [PMID: 36506032 PMCID: PMC9729774 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.1044770] [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: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose 2019 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is endangering health of populations worldwide. Latest research has proved that Lianhua Qingwen granules (LHQW) can reduce tissue damage caused by inflammatory reactions and relieve patients' clinical symptoms. However, the mechanism of LHQW treats COVID-19 is currently lacking. Therefore, we employed computer simulations to investigate the mechanism of LHQW treats COVID-19 by modulating inflammatory response. Methods We employed bioinformatics to screen active ingredients in LHQW and intersection gene targets. PPI, GO and KEGG was used to analyze relationship of intersection gene targets. Molecular dynamics simulations validated the binding stability of active ingredients and target proteins. Binding free energy, radius of gyration and the solvent accessible surface area were analyzed by supercomputer platform. Results COVID-19 had 4628 gene targets, LHQW had 1409 gene targets, intersection gene targets were 415. Bioinformatics analysis showed that intersection targets were closely related to inflammation and immunomodulatory. Molecular docking suggested that active ingredients (including: licopyranocoumarin, Glycyrol and 3-3-Oxopropanoic acid) in LHQW played a role in treating COVID-19 by acting on CSF2, CXCL8, CCR5, NLRP3, IFNG and TNF. Molecular dynamics was used to prove the binding stability of active ingredients and protein targets. Conclusion The mechanism of active ingredients in LHQW treats COVID-19 was investigated by computer simulations. We found that active ingredients in LHQW not only reduce cell damage and tissue destruction by inhibiting the inflammatory response through CSF2, CXCL8, CCR5 and IFNG, but also regulate cell survival and growth through NLRP3 and TNF thereby reducing apoptosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun-Feng Cao
- Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China,Chengdu Medical College of Basic Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China
| | | | - Mei Wu
- Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
| | - Li Xiong
- Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
| | | | | | | | - Ying-chun Peng
- Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China,The First Affifiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
| | - Xue-fang Shen
- Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China,The First Affifiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
| | - Jinyu Qu
- Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China,The First Affifiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
| | - Yi-li Wang
- Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China,The First Affifiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China,*Correspondence: Yi-li Wang, ; Xiao Zhang,
| | - Xiao Zhang
- Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China,Chengdu Medical College of Basic Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China,*Correspondence: Yi-li Wang, ; Xiao Zhang,
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15
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Balanced Force Field ff03CMAP Improving the Dynamics Conformation Sampling of Phosphorylation Site. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms231911285. [PMID: 36232586 PMCID: PMC9569523 DOI: 10.3390/ijms231911285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Revised: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 09/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Phosphorylation plays a key role in plant biology, such as the accumulation of plant cells to form the observed proteome. Statistical analysis found that many phosphorylation sites are located in disordered regions. However, current force fields are mainly trained for structural proteins, which might not have the capacity to perfectly capture the dynamic conformation of the phosphorylated proteins. Therefore, we evaluated the performance of ff03CMAP, a balanced force field between structural and disordered proteins, for the sampling of the phosphorylated proteins. The test results of 11 different phosphorylated systems, including dipeptides, disordered proteins, folded proteins, and their complex, indicate that the ff03CMAP force field can better sample the conformations of phosphorylation sites for disordered proteins and disordered regions than ff03. For the solvent model, the results strongly suggest that the ff03CMAP force field with the TIP4PD water model is the best combination for the conformer sampling. Additional tests of CHARMM36m and FB18 force fields on two phosphorylated systems suggest that the overall performance of ff03CMAP is similar to that of FB18 and better than that of CHARMM36m. These results can help other researchers to choose suitable force field and solvent models to investigate the dynamic properties of phosphorylation proteins.
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16
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Assortment of Frontiers in Protein Science. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23073685. [PMID: 35409045 PMCID: PMC8998612 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23073685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
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17
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Rieloff E, Skepö M. The Effect of Multisite Phosphorylation on the Conformational Properties of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:11058. [PMID: 34681718 PMCID: PMC8541499 DOI: 10.3390/ijms222011058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Revised: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered proteins are involved in many biological processes such as signaling, regulation, and recognition. A common strategy to regulate their function is through phosphorylation, as it can induce changes in conformation, dynamics, and interactions with binding partners. Although phosphorylated intrinsically disordered proteins have received increased attention in recent years, a full understanding of the conformational and structural implications of phosphorylation has not yet been achieved. Here, we present all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of five disordered peptides originated from tau, statherin, and β-casein, in both phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated state, to compare changes in global dimensions and structural elements, in an attempt to gain more insight into the controlling factors. The changes are in qualitative agreement with experimental data, and we observe that the net charge is not enough to predict the impact of phosphorylation on the global dimensions. Instead, the distribution of phosphorylated and positively charged residues throughout the sequence has great impact due to the formation of salt bridges. In statherin, a preference for arginine-phosphoserine interaction over arginine-tyrosine accounts for a global expansion, despite a local contraction of the phosphorylated region, which implies that also non-charged residues can influence the effect of phosphorylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen Rieloff
- Division of Theoretical Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden;
| | - Marie Skepö
- Division of Theoretical Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden;
- LINXS—Lund Institute of Advanced Neutron and X-ray Science, Scheelevägen 19, SE-223 70 Lund, Sweden
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