Revealing Atomic-Level Mechanisms of Protein Allostery with Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel Hertig

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Molecular dynamics (MD simulations have become a powerful and popular method for the study of protein allostery, the widespread phenomenon in which a stimulus at one site on a protein influences the properties of another site on the protein. By capturing the motions of a protein's constituent atoms, simulations can enable the discovery of allosteric binding sites and the determination of the mechanistic basis for allostery. These results can provide a foundation for applications including rational drug design and protein engineering. Here, we provide an introduction to the investigation of protein allostery using molecular dynamics simulation. We emphasize the importance of designing simulations that include appropriate perturbations to the molecular system, such as the addition or removal of ligands or the application of mechanical force. We also demonstrate how the bidirectional nature of allostery-the fact that the two sites involved influence one another in a symmetrical manner-can facilitate such investigations. Through a series of case studies, we illustrate how these concepts have been used to reveal the structural basis for allostery in several proteins and protein complexes of biological and pharmaceutical interest.

Protein Internal Dynamics Associated With Pre-System Glass Transition Temperature Endothermic Events: Investigation of Insulin and Human Growth Hormone by Solid State Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Rui; Grobelny, Pawel J; Bogner, Robin H; Pikal, Michael J

2016-11-01

Lyophilized proteins are generally stored below their glass transition temperature (T g ) to maintain long-term stability. Some proteins in the (pure) solid state showed a distinct endotherm at a temperature well below the glass transition, designated as a pre-T g endotherm. The pre-T g endothermic event has been linked with a transition in protein internal mobility. The aim of this study was to investigate the internal dynamics of 2 proteins, insulin and human growth hormone (hGH), both of which exhibit the pre-T g endothermic event with onsets at 50°C-60°C. Solid state hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange of both proteins was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy over a temperature range from 30°C to 80°C. A distinct sigmoidal transition in the extent of H/D exchange had a midpoint of 56.1 ± 1.2°C for insulin and 61.7 ± 0.9°C for hGH, suggesting a transition to greater mobility in the protein molecules at these temperatures. The data support the hypothesis that the pre-T g event is related to a transition in internal protein mobility associated with the protein dynamical temperature. Exceeding the protein dynamical temperature is expected to activate protein internal motion and therefore may have stability consequences. Copyright © 2016 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

NMR investigations of molecular dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, Arthur

2011-03-01

NMR spectroscopy is a powerful experimental approach for characterizing protein conformational dynamics on multiple time scales. The insights obtained from NMR studies are complemented and by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, which provide full atomistic details of protein dynamics. Homologous mesophilic (E. coli) and thermophilic (T. thermophilus) ribonuclease H (RNase H) enzymes serve to illustrate how changes in protein sequence and structure that affect conformational dynamic processes can be monitored and characterized by joint analysis of NMR spectroscopy and MD simulations. A Gly residue inserted within a putative hinge between helices B and C is conserved among thermophilic RNases H, but absent in mesophilic RNases H. Experimental spin relaxation measurements show that the dynamic properties of T. thermophilus RNase H are recapitulated in E. coli RNase H by insertion of a Gly residue between helices B and C. Additional specific intramolecular interactions that modulate backbone and sidechain dynamical properties of the Gly-rich loop and of the conserved Trp residue flanking the Gly insertion site have been identified using MD simulations and subsequently confirmed by NMR spin relaxation measurements. These results emphasize the importance of hydrogen bonds and local steric interactions in restricting conformational fluctuations, and the absence of such interactions in allowing conformational adaptation to substrate binding.

Picosecond Fluorescence Dynamics of Tryptophan and 5-Fluorotryptophan in Monellin : Slow Water-Protein Relaxation Unmasked

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Xu, Jianhua; Chen, Binbin; Callis, Patrik Robert; Muiño, Pedro L; Rozeboom, Henriette J; Broos, Jaap; Toptygin, Dmitri; Brand, Ludwig; Knutson, Jay R

2015-01-01

Time Dependent Fluorescence Stokes (emission wavelength) Shifts (TDFSS) from tryptophan (Trp) following sub-picosecond excitation are increasingly used to investigate protein dynamics, most recently enabling active research interest into water dynamics near the surface of proteins. Unlike many

Protein kinesis: The dynamics of protein trafficking and stability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-12-31

The purpose of this conference is to provide a multidisciplinary forum for exchange of state-of-the-art information on protein kinesis. This volume contains abstracts of papers in the following areas: protein folding and modification in the endoplasmic reticulum; protein trafficking; protein translocation and folding; protein degradation; polarity; nuclear trafficking; membrane dynamics; and protein import into organelles.

Conformational dynamics of a protein in the folded and the unfolded state

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fitter, Joerg

2003-08-01

In a quasielastic neutron scattering experiment, the picosecond dynamics of {alpha}-amylase was investigated for the folded and the unfolded state of the protein. In order to ensure a reasonable interpretation of the internal protein dynamics, the protein was measured in D{sub 2}O-buffer solution. The much higher structural flexibility of the pH induced unfolded state as compared to the native folded state was quantified using a simple analytical model, describing a local diffusion inside a sphere. In terms of this model the conformational volume, which is explored mainly by confined protein side-chain movements, is parameterized by the radius of a sphere (folded state, r=1.2 A; unfolded state, 1.8 A). Differences in conformational dynamics between the folded and the unfolded state of a protein are of fundamental interest in the field of protein science, because they are assumed to play an important role for the thermodynamics of folding/unfolding transition and for protein stability.

Water Dynamics in Protein Hydration Shells: The Molecular Origins of the Dynamical Perturbation

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Protein hydration shell dynamics play an important role in biochemical processes including protein folding, enzyme function, and molecular recognition. We present here a comparison of the reorientation dynamics of individual water molecules within the hydration shell of a series of globular proteins: acetylcholinesterase, subtilisin Carlsberg, lysozyme, and ubiquitin. Molecular dynamics simulations and analytical models are used to access site-resolved information on hydration shell dynamics and to elucidate the molecular origins of the dynamical perturbation of hydration shell water relative to bulk water. We show that all four proteins have very similar hydration shell dynamics, despite their wide range of sizes and functions, and differing secondary structures. We demonstrate that this arises from the similar local surface topology and surface chemical composition of the four proteins, and that such local factors alone are sufficient to rationalize the hydration shell dynamics. We propose that these conclusions can be generalized to a wide range of globular proteins. We also show that protein conformational fluctuations induce a dynamical heterogeneity within the hydration layer. We finally address the effect of confinement on hydration shell dynamics via a site-resolved analysis and connect our results to experiments via the calculation of two-dimensional infrared spectra. PMID:24479585

Refinement of homology-based protein structures by molecular dynamics simulation techniques

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fan, H; Mark, AE

The use of classical molecular dynamics simulations, performed in explicit water, for the refinement of structural models of proteins generated ab initio or based on homology has been investigated. The study involved a test set of 15 proteins that were previously used by Baker and coworkers to

Exploring protein dynamics space: the dynasome as the missing link between protein structure and function.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulf Hensen

Full Text Available Proteins are usually described and classified according to amino acid sequence, structure or function. Here, we develop a minimally biased scheme to compare and classify proteins according to their internal mobility patterns. This approach is based on the notion that proteins not only fold into recurring structural motifs but might also be carrying out only a limited set of recurring mobility motifs. The complete set of these patterns, which we tentatively call the dynasome, spans a multi-dimensional space with axes, the dynasome descriptors, characterizing different aspects of protein dynamics. The unique dynamic fingerprint of each protein is represented as a vector in the dynasome space. The difference between any two vectors, consequently, gives a reliable measure of the difference between the corresponding protein dynamics. We characterize the properties of the dynasome by comparing the dynamics fingerprints obtained from molecular dynamics simulations of 112 proteins but our approach is, in principle, not restricted to any specific source of data of protein dynamics. We conclude that: 1. the dynasome consists of a continuum of proteins, rather than well separated classes. 2. For the majority of proteins we observe strong correlations between structure and dynamics. 3. Proteins with similar function carry out similar dynamics, which suggests a new method to improve protein function annotation based on protein dynamics.

Molecular Effects of Concentrated Solutes on Protein Hydration, Dynamics, and Electrostatics.

Science.gov (United States)

Abriata, Luciano A; Spiga, Enrico; Peraro, Matteo Dal

2016-08-23

Most studies of protein structure and function are performed in dilute conditions, but proteins typically experience high solute concentrations in their physiological scenarios and biotechnological applications. High solute concentrations have well-known effects on coarse protein traits like stability, diffusion, and shape, but likely also perturb other traits through finer effects pertinent at the residue and atomic levels. Here, NMR and molecular dynamics investigations on ubiquitin disclose variable interactions with concentrated solutes that lead to localized perturbations of the protein's surface, hydration, electrostatics, and dynamics, all dependent on solute size and chemical properties. Most strikingly, small polar uncharged molecules are sticky on the protein surface, whereas charged small molecules are not, but the latter still perturb the internal protein electrostatics as they diffuse nearby. Meanwhile, interactions with macromolecular crowders are favored mainly through hydrophobic, but not through polar, surface patches. All the tested small solutes strongly slow down water exchange at the protein surface, whereas macromolecular crowders do not exert such strong perturbation. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations predict that unspecific interactions slow down microsecond- to millisecond-timescale protein dynamics despite having only mild effects on pico- to nanosecond fluctuations as corroborated by NMR. We discuss our results in the light of recent advances in understanding proteins inside living cells, focusing on the physical chemistry of quinary structure and cellular organization, and we reinforce the idea that proteins should be studied in native-like media to achieve a faithful description of their function. Copyright © 2016 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hydration dynamics near a model protein surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russo, Daniela; Hura, Greg; Head-Gordon, Teresa

2003-01-01

The evolution of water dynamics from dilute to very high concentration solutions of a prototypical hydrophobic amino acid with its polar backbone, N-acetyl-leucine-methylamide (NALMA), is studied by quasi-elastic neutron scattering and molecular dynamics simulation for both the completely deuterated and completely hydrogenated leucine monomer. We observe several unexpected features in the dynamics of these biological solutions under ambient conditions. The NALMA dynamics shows evidence of de Gennes narrowing, an indication of coherent long timescale structural relaxation dynamics. The translational water dynamics are analyzed in a first approximation with a jump diffusion model. At the highest solute concentrations, the hydration water dynamics is significantly suppressed and characterized by a long residential time and a slow diffusion coefficient. The analysis of the more dilute concentration solutions takes into account the results of the 2.0M solution as a model of the first hydration shell. Subtracting the first hydration layer based on the 2.0M spectra, the translational diffusion dynamics is still suppressed, although the rotational relaxation time and residential time are converged to bulk-water values. Molecular dynamics analysis shows spatially heterogeneous dynamics at high concentration that becomes homogeneous at more dilute concentrations. We discuss the hydration dynamics results of this model protein system in the context of glassy systems, protein function, and protein-protein interfaces

3D Protein Dynamics in the Cell Nucleus.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Anand P; Galland, Rémi; Finch-Edmondson, Megan L; Grenci, Gianluca; Sibarita, Jean-Baptiste; Studer, Vincent; Viasnoff, Virgile; Saunders, Timothy E

2017-01-10

The three-dimensional (3D) architecture of the cell nucleus plays an important role in protein dynamics and in regulating gene expression. However, protein dynamics within the 3D nucleus are poorly understood. Here, we present, to our knowledge, a novel combination of 1) single-objective based light-sheet microscopy, 2) photoconvertible proteins, and 3) fluorescence correlation microscopy, to quantitatively measure 3D protein dynamics in the nucleus. We are able to acquire >3400 autocorrelation functions at multiple spatial positions within a nucleus, without significant photobleaching, allowing us to make reliable estimates of diffusion dynamics. Using this tool, we demonstrate spatial heterogeneity in Polymerase II dynamics in live U2OS cells. Further, we provide detailed measurements of human-Yes-associated protein diffusion dynamics in a human gastric cancer epithelial cell line. Copyright © 2017 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Molecular dynamics simulations of protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B: II. Substrate-enzyme interactions and dynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peters, Günther H.j.; Frimurer, T. M.; Andersen, J. N.

2000-01-01

Molecular dynamics simulations of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) complexed with the phosphorylated peptide substrate DADEpYL and the free substrate have been conducted to investigate 1) the physical forces involved in substrate-protein interactions, 2) the importance of enzyme...... to substrate binding. Based on essential dynamics analysis of the PTP1B/DADEpYL trajectory, it is shown that internal motions in the binding pocket occur in a subspace of only a few degrees of freedom. in particular, relatively large flexibilities are observed along several eigenvectors in the segments: Arg(24...... for catalysis. Analysis of the individual enzyme-substrate interaction energies revealed that mainly electrostatic forces contribute to binding. Indeed, calculation of the electrostatic field of the enzyme reveals that only the field surrounding the binding pocket is positive, while the remaining protein...

The consistency of large concerted motions in proteins in molecular dynamics simulations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Groot, B.L.; van Aalten, D.M.F.; Amadei, A; Berendsen, H.J.C.

1996-01-01

A detailed investigation is presented into the effect of limited sampling time and small changes in the force field on molecular dynamics simulations of a protein. Thirteen independent simulations of the B1 IgG-binding domain of streptococcal protein G were performed, with small changes in the

Simultaneous determination of protein structure and dynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindorff-Larsen, Kresten; Best, Robert B.; DePristo, M. A.

2005-01-01

at the atomic level about the structural and dynamical features of proteins-with the ability of molecular dynamics simulations to explore a wide range of protein conformations. We illustrate the method for human ubiquitin in solution and find that there is considerable conformational heterogeneity throughout......We present a protocol for the experimental determination of ensembles of protein conformations that represent simultaneously the native structure and its associated dynamics. The procedure combines the strengths of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy-for obtaining experimental information...... the protein structure. The interior atoms of the protein are tightly packed in each individual conformation that contributes to the ensemble but their overall behaviour can be described as having a significant degree of liquid-like character. The protocol is completely general and should lead to significant...

Dynamically polarized samples for neutron protein crystallography at the Spallation Neutron Source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Jinkui; Pierce, Josh; Robertson, J. L.; Herwig, Kenneth W.; Myles, Dean; Cuneo, Matt; Li, Le; Meilleur, Flora; Standaert, Bob

2016-01-01

To prepare for the next generation neutron scattering instruments for the planned second target station at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and to broaden the scientific impact of neutron protein crystallography at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, we have recently ramped up our efforts to develop a dynamically polarized target for neutron protein crystallography at the SNS. Proteins contain a large amount of hydrogen which contributes to incoherent diffraction background and limits the sensitivity of neutron protein crystallography. This incoherent background can be suppressed by using polarized neutron diffraction, which in the same time also improves the coherent diffraction signal. Our plan is to develop a custom Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) setup tailored to neutron protein diffraction instruments. Protein crystals will be polarized at a magnetic field of 5 T and temperatures of below 1 K. After the dynamic polarization process, the sample will be brought to a frozen-spin mode in a 0.5 T holding field and at temperatures below 100 mK. In a parallel effort, we are also investigating various ways of incorporating polarization agents needed for DNP, such as site specific spin labels, into protein crystals. (paper)

Exploration of the dynamic properties of protein complexes predicted from spatially constrained protein-protein interaction networks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric A Yen

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Protein complexes are not static, but rather highly dynamic with subunits that undergo 1-dimensional diffusion with respect to each other. Interactions within protein complexes are modulated through regulatory inputs that alter interactions and introduce new components and deplete existing components through exchange. While it is clear that the structure and function of any given protein complex is coupled to its dynamical properties, it remains a challenge to predict the possible conformations that complexes can adopt. Protein-fragment Complementation Assays detect physical interactions between protein pairs constrained to ≤8 nm from each other in living cells. This method has been used to build networks composed of 1000s of pair-wise interactions. Significantly, these networks contain a wealth of dynamic information, as the assay is fully reversible and the proteins are expressed in their natural context. In this study, we describe a method that extracts this valuable information in the form of predicted conformations, allowing the user to explore the conformational landscape, to search for structures that correlate with an activity state, and estimate the abundance of conformations in the living cell. The generator is based on a Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation that uses the interaction dataset as input and is constrained by the physical resolution of the assay. We applied this method to an 18-member protein complex composed of the seven core proteins of the budding yeast Arp2/3 complex and 11 associated regulators and effector proteins. We generated 20,480 output structures and identified conformational states using principle component analysis. We interrogated the conformation landscape and found evidence of symmetry breaking, a mixture of likely active and inactive conformational states and dynamic exchange of the core protein Arc15 between core and regulatory components. Our method provides a novel tool for prediction and

On the dynamical incompleteness of the Protein Data Bank.

Science.gov (United States)

Marino-Buslje, Cristina; Monzon, Alexander Miguel; Zea, Diego Javier; Fornasari, María Silvina; Parisi, Gustavo

2017-08-02

Major scientific challenges that are beyond the capability of individuals need to be addressed by multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional consortia. Examples of these endeavours include the Human Genome Project, and more recently, the Structural Genomics (SG) initiative. The SG initiative pursues the expansion of structural coverage to include at least one structural representative for each protein family to derive the remaining structures using homology modelling. However, biological function is inherently connected with protein dynamics that can be studied by knowing different structures of the same protein. This ensemble of structures provides snapshots of protein conformational diversity under native conditions. Thus, sequence redundancy in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) (i.e. crystallization of the same protein under different conditions) is therefore an essential input contributing to experimentally based studies of protein dynamics and providing insights into protein function. In this work, we show that sequence redundancy, a key concept for exploring protein dynamics, is highly biased and fundamentally incomplete in the PDB. Additionally, our results show that dynamical behaviour of proteins cannot be inferred using homologous proteins. Minor to moderate changes in sequence can produce great differences in dynamical behaviour. Nonetheless, the structural and dynamical incompleteness of the PDB is apparently unrelated concepts in SG. While the first could be reversed by promoting the extension of the structural coverage, we would like to emphasize that further focused efforts will be needed to amend the incompleteness of the PDB in terms of dynamical information content, essential to fully understand protein function. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Dynamic protein assembly by programmable DNA strand displacement

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Rebecca P.; Blackstock, Daniel; Sun, Qing; Chen, Wilfred

2018-03-01

Inspired by the remarkable ability of natural protein switches to sense and respond to a wide range of environmental queues, here we report a strategy to engineer synthetic protein switches by using DNA strand displacement to dynamically organize proteins with highly diverse and complex logic gate architectures. We show that DNA strand displacement can be used to dynamically control the spatial proximity and the corresponding fluorescence resonance energy transfer between two fluorescent proteins. Performing Boolean logic operations enabled the explicit control of protein proximity using multi-input, reversible and amplification architectures. We further demonstrate the power of this technology beyond sensing by achieving dynamic control of an enzyme cascade. Finally, we establish the utility of the approach as a synthetic computing platform that drives the dynamic reconstitution of a split enzyme for targeted prodrug activation based on the sensing of cancer-specific miRNAs.

Time-resolved methods in biophysics. 6. Time-resolved Laue crystallography as a tool to investigate photo-activated protein dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Bourgeois, Dominique; Schotte, Friedrich; Brunori, Maurizio; Vallone, Beatrice

2007-10-01

When polychromatic X-rays are shined onto crystalline material, they generate a Laue diffraction pattern. At third generation synchrotron radiation sources, a single X-ray pulse of approximately 100 ps duration is enough to produce interpretable Laue data from biomolecular crystals. Thus, by initiating biological turnover in a crystalline protein, structural changes along the reaction pathway may be filmed by ultra-fast Laue diffraction. Using laser-light as a trigger, transient species in photosensitive macromolecules can be captured at near atomic resolution with sub-nanosecond time-resolution. Such pump-probe Laue experiments have now reached an outstanding level of sophistication and have found a domain of excellence in the investigation of light-sensitive proteins undergoing cyclic photo-reactions and producing stiff crystals. The main theoretical concepts of Laue diffraction and the challenges associated with time-resolved experiments on biological crystals are recalled. The recent advances in the design of experiments are presented in terms of instrumental choices, data collection strategy and data processing, and some of the inherent difficulties of the method are highlighted. The discussion is based on the example of myoglobin, a protein that has traversed the whole history of pump-probe Laue diffraction, and for which a massive amount of data have provided considerable insight into the understanding of protein dynamics.

Water dynamics clue to key residues in protein folding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, Meng; Zhu, Huaiqiu; Yao, Xin-Qiu; She, Zhen-Su

2010-01-01

A computational method independent of experimental protein structure information is proposed to recognize key residues in protein folding, from the study of hydration water dynamics. Based on all-atom molecular dynamics simulation, two key residues are recognized with distinct water dynamical behavior in a folding process of the Trp-cage protein. The identified key residues are shown to play an essential role in both 3D structure and hydrophobic-induced collapse. With observations on hydration water dynamics around key residues, a dynamical pathway of folding can be interpreted.

Modelling Protein Dynamics on the Microsecond Time Scale

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siuda, Iwona Anna

Recent years have shown an increase in coarse-grained (CG) molecular dynamics simulations, providing structural and dynamic details of large proteins and enabling studies of self-assembly of biological materials. It is not easy to acquire such data experimentally, and access is also still limited...... in atomistic simulations. During her PhD studies, Iwona Siuda used MARTINI CG models to study the dynamics of different globular and membrane proteins. In several cases, the MARTINI model was sufficient to study conformational changes of small, purely alpha-helical proteins. However, in studies of larger......ELNEDIN was therefore proposed as part of the work. Iwona Siuda’s results from the CG simulations had biological implications that provide insights into possible mechanisms of the periplasmic leucine-binding protein, the sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum calcium pump, and several proteins from the saposin-like proteins...

Stabilities and Dynamics of Protein Folding Nuclei by Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yong-Shun; Zhou, Xin; Zheng, Wei-Mou; Wang, Yan-Ting

2017-07-01

To understand how the stabilities of key nuclei fragments affect protein folding dynamics, we simulate by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation in aqueous solution four fragments cut out of a protein G, including one α-helix (seqB: KVFKQYAN), two β-turns (seqA: LNGKTLKG and seqC: YDDATKTF), and one β-strand (seqD: DGEWTYDD). The Markov State Model clustering method combined with the coarse-grained conformation letters method are employed to analyze the data sampled from 2-μs equilibrium MD simulation trajectories. We find that seqA and seqB have more stable structures than their native structures which become metastable when cut out of the protein structure. As expected, seqD alone is flexible and does not have a stable structure. Throughout our simulations, the native structure of seqC is stable but cannot be reached if starting from a structure other than the native one, implying a funnel-shape free energy landscape of seqC in aqueous solution. All the above results suggest that different nuclei have different formation dynamics during protein folding, which may have a major contribution to the hierarchy of protein folding dynamics. Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China under Grant No. 2013CB932804, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 11421063, and the CAS Biophysics Interdisciplinary Innovation Team Project

Nanoscopic dynamics of bicontinous microemulsions: effect of membrane associated protein.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, V K; Hayes, Douglas G; Urban, Volker S; O'Neill, Hugh M; Tyagi, M; Mamontov, E

2017-07-19

Bicontinous microemulsions (BμE) generally consist of nanodomains formed by surfactant in a mixture of water and oil at nearly equal proportions and are potential candidates for the solubilization and purification of membrane proteins. Here we present the first time report of nanoscopic dynamics of surfactant monolayers within BμEs formed by the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) measured on the nanosecond to picosecond time scale using quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS). BμEs investigated herein consisted of middle phases isolated from Winsor-III microemulsion systems that were formed by mixing aqueous and oil solutions under optimal conditions. QENS data indicates that surfactants undergo two distinct motions, namely (i) lateral motion along the surface of the oil nanodomains and (ii) localized internal motion. Lateral motion can be described using a continuous diffusion model, from which the lateral diffusion coefficient is obtained. Internal motion of surfactant is described using a model which assumes that a fraction of the surfactants' hydrogens undergoes localized translational diffusion that could be considered confined within a spherical volume. The effect of cytochrome c, an archetypal membrane-associated protein known to strongly partition near the surfactant head groups in BμEs (a trend supported by small-angle X-ray scattering [SAXS] analysis), on the dynamics of BμE has also been investigated. QENS results demonstrated that cytochrome c significantly hindered both the lateral and the internal motions of surfactant. The lateral motion was more strongly affected: a reduction of the lateral diffusion coefficient by 33% was measured. This change is mainly attributable to the strong association of cytochrome c with oppositely charged SDS. In contrast, analysis of SAXS data suggested that thermal fluctuations (for a longer length and slower time scale compared to QENS) were increased upon incorporation of cytochrome c. This study

Zaccai neutron resilience and site-specific hydration dynamics in a globular protein

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miao, Yinglong [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Hong, Liang [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Yi, Zheng [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Smith, Jeremy C. [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2013-07-16

A discussion is presented of contributions of the Zaccai group to the understanding of flexibility in biological macromolecules using dynamic neutron scattering. The concept of resilience as introduced by Zaccai is discussed and investigated using molecular dynamics simulation on camphor-bound cytochrome P450. The resilience of hydrophilic residues is found to be more strongly affected by hydration than that of hydrophobic counterparts. The hydration-induced softening of protein propagates from the surface into the dry core. Furthermore, buried hydrophilic residues behave more like those exposed on the protein surface, and are different from their hydrophobic counterparts.

A sensitive fluorescent probe for the polar solvation dynamics at protein-surfactant interfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Priya; Choudhury, Susobhan; Singha, Subhankar; Jun, Yongwoong; Chakraborty, Sandipan; Sengupta, Jhimli; Das, Ranjan; Ahn, Kyo-Han; Pal, Samir Kumar

2017-05-17

Relaxation dynamics at the surface of biologically important macromolecules is important taking into account their functionality in molecular recognition. Over the years it has been shown that the solvation dynamics of a fluorescent probe at biomolecular surfaces and interfaces account for the relaxation dynamics of polar residues and associated water molecules. However, the sensitivity of the dynamics depends largely on the localization and exposure of the probe. For noncovalent fluorescent probes, localization at the region of interest in addition to surface exposure is an added challenge compared to the covalently attached probes at the biological interfaces. Here we have used a synthesized donor-acceptor type dipolar fluorophore, 6-acetyl-(2-((4-hydroxycyclohexyl)(methyl)amino)naphthalene) (ACYMAN), for the investigation of the solvation dynamics of a model protein-surfactant interface. A significant structural rearrangement of a model histone protein (H1) upon interaction with anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) as revealed from the circular dichroism (CD) studies is nicely corroborated in the solvation dynamics of the probe at the interface. The polarization gated fluorescence anisotropy of the probe compared to that at the SDS micellar surface clearly reveals the localization of the probe at the protein-surfactant interface. We have also compared the sensitivity of ACYMAN with other solvation probes including coumarin 500 (C500) and 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(p-dimethylamino-styryl)-4H-pyran (DCM). In comparison to ACYMAN, both C500 and DCM fail to probe the interfacial solvation dynamics of a model protein-surfactant interface. While C500 is found to be delocalized from the protein-surfactant interface, DCM becomes destabilized upon the formation of the interface (protein-surfactant complex). The timescales obtained from this novel probe have also been compared with other femtosecond resolved studies and molecular dynamics simulations.

Structure and dynamics of photosynthetic proteins studied by neutron scattering and molecular dynamic simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dellerue, Serge

2000-01-01

Understand the structure-dynamics-function relation in the case of proteins is essential. But few experimental techniques allow to have access to knowledge of fast internal movements of biological macromolecules. With the neutron scattering method, it has been possible to study the reorientation dynamics of side chains and of polypeptide skeleton for two proteins in terms of water or detergent and of temperature. With the use of the molecular dynamics method, essential for completing and interpreting the experimental data, it has been possible to assess the different contributions of the whole structure of proteins to the overall dynamics. It has been shown that the polypeptide skeleton presents an energy relaxation comparable to those of the side chains. Moreover, it has been explained that the protein dynamics can only be understood in terms of relaxation time distribution. (author) [fr

Protein electron transfer: is biology (thermo)dynamic?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matyushov, Dmitry V

2015-01-01

Simple physical mechanisms are behind the flow of energy in all forms of life. Energy comes to living systems through electrons occupying high-energy states, either from food (respiratory chains) or from light (photosynthesis). This energy is transformed into the cross-membrane proton-motive force that eventually drives all biochemistry of the cell. Life’s ability to transfer electrons over large distances with nearly zero loss of free energy is puzzling and has not been accomplished in synthetic systems. The focus of this review is on how this energetic efficiency is realized. General physical mechanisms and interactions that allow proteins to fold into compact water-soluble structures are also responsible for a rugged landscape of energy states and a broad distribution of relaxation times. Specific to a protein as a fluctuating thermal bath is the protein-water interface, which is heterogeneous both dynamically and structurally. The spectrum of interfacial fluctuations is a consequence of protein’s elastic flexibility combined with a high density of surface charges polarizing water dipoles into surface nanodomains. Electrostatics is critical to the protein function and the relevant questions are: (i) What is the spectrum of interfacial electrostatic fluctuations? (ii) Does the interfacial biological water produce electrostatic signatures specific to proteins? (iii) How is protein-mediated chemistry affected by electrostatics? These questions connect the fluctuation spectrum to the dynamical control of chemical reactivity, i.e. the dependence of the activation free energy of the reaction on the dynamics of the bath. Ergodicity is often broken in protein-driven reactions and thermodynamic free energies become irrelevant. Continuous ergodicity breaking in a dense spectrum of relaxation times requires using dynamically restricted ensembles to calculate statistical averages. When applied to the calculation of the rates, this formalism leads to the nonergodic

Proteins with Novel Structure, Function and Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Pohorille, Andrew

2014-01-01

Recently, a small enzyme that ligates two RNA fragments with the rate of 10(exp 6) above background was evolved in vitro (Seelig and Szostak, Nature 448:828-831, 2007). This enzyme does not resemble any contemporary protein (Chao et al., Nature Chem. Biol. 9:81-83, 2013). It consists of a dynamic, catalytic loop, a small, rigid core containing two zinc ions coordinated by neighboring amino acids, and two highly flexible tails that might be unimportant for protein function. In contrast to other proteins, this enzyme does not contain ordered secondary structure elements, such as alpha-helix or beta-sheet. The loop is kept together by just two interactions of a charged residue and a histidine with a zinc ion, which they coordinate on the opposite side of the loop. Such structure appears to be very fragile. Surprisingly, computer simulations indicate otherwise. As the coordinating, charged residue is mutated to alanine, another, nearby charged residue takes its place, thus keeping the structure nearly intact. If this residue is also substituted by alanine a salt bridge involving two other, charged residues on the opposite sides of the loop keeps the loop in place. These adjustments are facilitated by high flexibility of the protein. Computational predictions have been confirmed experimentally, as both mutants retain full activity and overall structure. These results challenge our notions about what is required for protein activity and about the relationship between protein dynamics, stability and robustness. We hypothesize that small, highly dynamic proteins could be both active and fault tolerant in ways that many other proteins are not, i.e. they can adjust to retain their structure and activity even if subjected to mutations in structurally critical regions. This opens the doors for designing proteins with novel functions, structures and dynamics that have not been yet considered.

Molecular dynamics simulations of protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B. I. Ligand-induced changes in the protein motions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peters, Günther H. J.; Frimurer, T.M.; Andersen, J.N.

1999-01-01

Activity of enzymes, such as protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), is often associated with structural changes in the enzyme, resulting in selective and stereospecific reactions with the substrate. To investigate the effect of a substrate on the motions occurring in PTPs, we have performed...... molecular dynamics simulations of PTP1B and PTP1B complexed with a high-affinity peptide DADEpYL, where pY stands for phosphorylated tyrosine. The peptide sequence is derived from the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR(988-993)). Simulations were performed in water for 1 ns, and the concerted motions...... in the protein were analyzed using the essential dynamics technique. Our results indicate that the predominately internal motions in PTP1B occur in a subspace of only a few degrees of freedom. Upon substrate binding, the flexibility of the protein is reduced by similar to 10%. The largest effect is found...

Constraint theory and hierarchical protein dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phillips, J C

2004-01-01

The complexity and functionality of proteins requires that they occupy an exponentially small fraction of configuration space (perhaps 10 -300 ). How did evolution manage to create such unlikely objects? Thorpe has solved the static half of this problem (known in protein chemistry as Levinthal's paradox) by observing that for stress-free chain segments the complexity of optimally constrained elastic networks scales not with expN (where N ∼ 100-1000 is the number of amino acids in a protein), but only with N. Newman's results for diffusion in N-dimensional spaces provide suggestive insights into the dynamical half of the problem. He showed that the distribution of residence (or pausing) time between sign reversals changes qualitatively at N ∼40. The overall sign of a protein can be defined in terms of a product of curvature and hydrophobic(philic) character over all amino acid residues. This construction agrees with the sizes of the smallest known proteins and prions, and it suggests a universal clock for protein molecular dynamics simulations

Constraint theory and hierarchical protein dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Phillips, J C [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8019 (United States)

2004-11-10

The complexity and functionality of proteins requires that they occupy an exponentially small fraction of configuration space (perhaps 10{sup -300}). How did evolution manage to create such unlikely objects? Thorpe has solved the static half of this problem (known in protein chemistry as Levinthal's paradox) by observing that for stress-free chain segments the complexity of optimally constrained elastic networks scales not with expN (where N {approx} 100-1000 is the number of amino acids in a protein), but only with N. Newman's results for diffusion in N-dimensional spaces provide suggestive insights into the dynamical half of the problem. He showed that the distribution of residence (or pausing) time between sign reversals changes qualitatively at N {approx}40. The overall sign of a protein can be defined in terms of a product of curvature and hydrophobic(philic) character over all amino acid residues. This construction agrees with the sizes of the smallest known proteins and prions, and it suggests a universal clock for protein molecular dynamics simulations.

Energetics investigation on encapsulation of protein/peptide drugs in carbon nanotubes.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Qu; Wang, Qi; Liu, Ying-Chun; Wu, Tao; Kang, Yu; Moore, Joshua D; Gubbins, Keith E

2009-07-07

This work focuses on the dynamic properties and energetics of the protein/peptide drug during its transport through carbon nanotubes (CNTs). A systematic study was performed on the interaction between the peptide and the CNTs. In the molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, the protein/peptide molecule Zadaxin is observed to be encapsulated inside the nanotube after its spontaneous insertion and oscillates around the center of the tube, where the van der Waals interaction energy is observed to be a minimum. Furthermore, it is found by performing steered MD simulations that the pulling force applied to the peptide reaches a maximum value, which demonstrates the ability of the CNTs to trap protein/peptide drugs. Such effects, attributed to van der Waals interactions, can be influenced by varying the lengths and diameters of the CNTs. Longer nanotubes provide a broader area to trap the peptide, while smaller nanotubes are able to encapsulate the peptide with a deeper interaction energy well. This investigation provides insights into nanoscale pharmaceutical drug delivery devices.

The dynamics of the G protein-coupled neuropeptide Y2 receptor in monounsaturated membranes investigated by solid-state NMR spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thomas, Lars; Kahr, Julian; Schmidt, Peter; Krug, Ulrike; Scheidt, Holger A.; Huster, Daniel, E-mail: daniel.huster@medizin.uni-leipzig.de [University of Leipzig, Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics (Germany)

2015-04-15

In contrast to the static snapshots provided by protein crystallography, G protein-coupled receptors constitute a group of proteins with highly dynamic properties, which are required in the receptors’ function as signaling molecule. Here, the human neuropeptide Y2 receptor was reconstituted into a model membrane composed of monounsaturated phospholipids and solid-state NMR was used to characterize its dynamics. Qualitative static {sup 15}N NMR spectra and quantitative determination of {sup 1}H–{sup 13}C order parameters through measurement of the {sup 1}H–{sup 13}C dipolar couplings of the CH, CH{sub 2} and CH{sub 3} groups revealed axially symmetric motions of the whole molecule in the membrane and molecular fluctuations of varying amplitude from all molecular segments. The molecular order parameters (S{sub backbone} = 0.59–0.67, S{sub CH2} = 0.41–0.51 and S{sub CH3} = 0.22) obtained in directly polarized {sup 13}C NMR experiments demonstrate that the Y2 receptor is highly mobile in the native-like membrane. Interestingly, according to these results the receptor was found to be slightly more rigid in the membranes formed by the monounsaturated phospholipids than by saturated phospholipids as investigated previously. This could be caused by an increased chain length of the monounsaturated lipids, which may result in a higher helical content of the receptor. Furthermore, the incorporation of cholesterol, phosphatidylethanolamine, or negatively charged phosphatidylserine into the membrane did not have a significant influence on the molecular mobility of the Y2 receptor.

Protein dynamics in individual human cells: experiment and theory.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ariel Aharon Cohen

Full Text Available A current challenge in biology is to understand the dynamics of protein circuits in living human cells. Can one define and test equations for the dynamics and variability of a protein over time? Here, we address this experimentally and theoretically, by means of accurate time-resolved measurements of endogenously tagged proteins in individual human cells. As a model system, we choose three stable proteins displaying cell-cycle-dependant dynamics. We find that protein accumulation with time per cell is quadratic for proteins with long mRNA life times and approximately linear for a protein with short mRNA lifetime. Both behaviors correspond to a classical model of transcription and translation. A stochastic model, in which genes slowly switch between ON and OFF states, captures measured cell-cell variability. The data suggests, in accordance with the model, that switching to the gene ON state is exponentially distributed and that the cell-cell distribution of protein levels can be approximated by a Gamma distribution throughout the cell cycle. These results suggest that relatively simple models may describe protein dynamics in individual human cells.

ProteinAC: a frequency domain technique for analyzing protein dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Bozkurt Varolgunes, Yasemin; Demir, Alper

2018-03-01

It is widely believed that the interactions of proteins with ligands and other proteins are determined by their dynamic characteristics as opposed to only static, time-invariant processes. We propose a novel computational technique, called ProteinAC (PAC), that can be used to analyze small scale functional protein motions as well as interactions with ligands directly in the frequency domain. PAC was inspired by a frequency domain analysis technique that is widely used in electronic circuit design, and can be applied to both coarse-grained and all-atom models. It can be considered as a generalization of previously proposed static perturbation-response methods, where the frequency of the perturbation becomes the key. We discuss the precise relationship of PAC to static perturbation-response schemes. We show that the frequency of the perturbation may be an important factor in protein dynamics. Perturbations at different frequencies may result in completely different response behavior while magnitude and direction are kept constant. Furthermore, we introduce several novel frequency dependent metrics that can be computed via PAC in order to characterize response behavior. We present results for the ferric binding protein that demonstrate the potential utility of the proposed techniques.

Functional dynamics of cell surface membrane proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishida, Noritaka; Osawa, Masanori; Takeuchi, Koh; Imai, Shunsuke; Stampoulis, Pavlos; Kofuku, Yutaka; Ueda, Takumi; Shimada, Ichio

2014-04-01

Cell surface receptors are integral membrane proteins that receive external stimuli, and transmit signals across plasma membranes. In the conventional view of receptor activation, ligand binding to the extracellular side of the receptor induces conformational changes, which convert the structure of the receptor into an active conformation. However, recent NMR studies of cell surface membrane proteins have revealed that their structures are more dynamic than previously envisioned, and they fluctuate between multiple conformations in an equilibrium on various timescales. In addition, NMR analyses, along with biochemical and cell biological experiments indicated that such dynamical properties are critical for the proper functions of the receptors. In this review, we will describe several NMR studies that revealed direct linkage between the structural dynamics and the functions of the cell surface membrane proteins, such as G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), ion channels, membrane transporters, and cell adhesion molecules. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Organizing membrane-curving proteins: the emerging dynamical picture.

Science.gov (United States)

Simunovic, Mijo; Bassereau, Patricia; Voth, Gregory A

2018-03-30

Lipid membranes play key roles in cells, such as in trafficking, division, infection, remodeling of organelles, among others. The key step in all these processes is creating membrane curvature, typically under the control of many anchored, adhered or included proteins. However, it has become clear that the membrane itself can mediate the interactions among proteins to produce highly ordered assemblies. Computer simulations are ideally suited to investigate protein organization and the dynamics of membrane remodeling at near-micron scales, something that is extremely challenging to tackle experimentally. We review recent computational efforts in modeling protein-caused membrane deformation mechanisms, specifically focusing on coarse-grained simulations. We highlight work that exposed the membrane-mediated ordering of proteins into lines, meshwork, spirals and other assemblies, in what seems to be a very generic mechanism driven by a combination of short and long-ranged forces. Modulating the mechanical properties of membranes is an underexplored signaling mechanism in various processes deserving of more attention in the near future. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigation of arc repressor DNA-binding specificity by comparative molecular dynamics simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Wei; Guo, Jun-Tao

2015-01-01

Transcription factors regulate gene expression through binding to specific DNA sequences. How transcription factors achieve high binding specificity is still not well understood. In this paper, we investigated the role of protein flexibility in protein-DNA-binding specificity by comparative molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Protein flexibility has been considered as a key factor in molecular recognition, which is intrinsically a dynamic process involving fine structural fitting between binding components. In this study, we performed comparative MD simulations on wild-type and F10V mutant P22 Arc repressor in both free and complex conformations. The F10V mutant has lower DNA-binding specificity though both the bound and unbound main-chain structures between the wild-type and F10V mutant Arc are highly similar. We found that the DNA-binding motif of wild-type Arc is structurally more flexible than the F10V mutant in the unbound state, especially for the six DNA base-contacting residues in each dimer. We demonstrated that the flexible side chains of wild-type Arc lead to a higher DNA-binding specificity through forming more hydrogen bonds with DNA bases upon binding. Our simulations also showed a possible conformational selection mechanism for Arc-DNA binding. These results indicate the important roles of protein flexibility and dynamic properties in protein-DNA-binding specificity.

Effect of dynamic high pressure homogenization on the aggregation state of soy protein.

Science.gov (United States)

Keerati-U-Rai, Maneephan; Corredig, Milena

2009-05-13

Although soy proteins are often employed as functional ingredients in oil-water emulsions, very little is known about the aggregation state of the proteins in solution and whether any changes occur to soy protein dispersions during homogenization. The effect of dynamic high pressure homogenization on the aggregation state of the proteins was investigated using microdifferential scanning calorimetry and high performance size exclusion chromatography coupled with multiangle laser light scattering. Soy protein isolates as well as glycinin and beta-conglycinin fractions were prepared from defatted soy flakes and redispersed in 50 mM sodium phosphate buffer at pH 7.4. The dispersions were then subjected to homogenization at two different pressures, 26 and 65 MPa. The results demonstrated that dynamic high pressure homogenization causes changes in the supramolecular structure of the soy proteins. Both beta-conglycinin and glycinin samples had an increased temperature of denaturation after homogenization. The chromatographic elution profile showed a reduction in the aggregate concentration with homogenization pressure for beta-conglycinin and an increase in the size of the soluble aggregates for glycinin and soy protein isolate.

Inactivation of Tor proteins affects the dynamics of endocytic proteins ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Tor2 is an activator of the Rom2/Rho1 pathway that regulates -factor internalization. Since the recruitment of endocytic proteins such as actin-binding proteins and the amphiphysins precedes the internalization of -factor, we hypothesized that loss of Tor function leads to an alteration in the dynamics of the endocytic ...

Dynamics of DNA conformations and DNA-protein interaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Metzler, R.; Ambjörnsson, T.; Lomholt, Michael Andersen

2005-01-01

Optical tweezers, atomic force microscopes, patch clamping, or fluorescence techniques make it possible to study both the equilibrium conformations and dynamics of single DNA molecules as well as their interaction with binding proteins. In this paper we address the dynamics of local DNA...... denaturation (bubble breathing), deriving its dynamic response to external physical parameters and the DNA sequence in terms of the bubble relaxation time spectrum and the autocorrelation function of bubble breathing. The interaction with binding proteins that selectively bind to the DNA single strand exposed...... in a denaturation bubble are shown to involve an interesting competition of time scales, varying between kinetic blocking of protein binding up to full binding protein-induced denaturation of the DNA. We will also address the potential to use DNA physics for the design of nanosensors. Finally, we report recent...

Conformational dynamics of ATP/Mg:ATP in motor proteins via data mining and molecular simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Bojovschi, A.; Liu, Ming S.; Sadus, Richard J.

2012-08-01

The conformational diversity of ATP/Mg:ATP in motor proteins was investigated using molecular dynamics and data mining. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) conformations were found to be constrained mostly by inter cavity motifs in the motor proteins. It is demonstrated that ATP favors extended conformations in the tight pockets of motor proteins such as F1-ATPase and actin whereas compact structures are favored in motor proteins such as RNA polymerase and DNA helicase. The incorporation of Mg2+ leads to increased flexibility of ATP molecules. The differences in the conformational dynamics of ATP/Mg:ATP in various motor proteins was quantified by the radius of gyration. The relationship between the simulation results and those obtained by data mining of motor proteins available in the protein data bank is analyzed. The data mining analysis of motor proteins supports the conformational diversity of the phosphate group of ATP obtained computationally.

PDB2CD visualises dynamics within protein structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Janes, Robert W

2017-10-01

Proteins tend to have defined conformations, a key factor in enabling their function. Atomic resolution structures of proteins are predominantly obtained by either solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or crystal structure methods. However, when considering a protein whose structure has been determined by both these approaches, on many occasions, the resultant conformations are subtly different, as illustrated by the examples in this study. The solution NMR approach invariably results in a cluster of structures whose conformations satisfy the distance boundaries imposed by the data collected; it might be argued that this is evidence of the dynamics of proteins when in solution. In crystal structures, the proteins are often in an energy minimum state which can result in an increase in the extent of regular secondary structure present relative to the solution state depicted by NMR, because the more dynamic ends of alpha helices and beta strands can become ordered at the lower temperatures. This study examines a novel way to display the differences in conformations within an NMR ensemble and between these and a crystal structure of a protein. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy can be used to characterise protein structures in solution. Using the new bioinformatics tool, PDB2CD, which generates CD spectra from atomic resolution protein structures, the differences between, and possible dynamic range of, conformations adopted by a protein can be visualised.

Coarse Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Transmembrane Protein-Lipid Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Spijker

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Many biological cellular processes occur at the micro- or millisecond time scale. With traditional all-atom molecular modeling techniques it is difficult to investigate the dynamics of long time scales or large systems, such as protein aggregation or activation. Coarse graining (CG can be used to reduce the number of degrees of freedom in such a system, and reduce the computational complexity. In this paper the first version of a coarse grained model for transmembrane proteins is presented. This model differs from other coarse grained protein models due to the introduction of a novel angle potential as well as a hydrogen bonding potential. These new potentials are used to stabilize the backbone. The model has been validated by investigating the adaptation of the hydrophobic mismatch induced by the insertion of WALP-peptides into a lipid membrane, showing that the first step in the adaptation is an increase in the membrane thickness, followed by a tilting of the peptide.

Integrating atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, experiments and network analysis to study protein dynamics: strength in unity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena ePapaleo

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In the last years, we have been observing remarkable improvements in the field of protein dynamics. Indeed, we can now study protein dynamics in atomistic details over several timescales with a rich portfolio of experimental and computational techniques. On one side, this provides us with the possibility to validate simulation methods and physical models against a broad range of experimental observables. On the other side, it also allows a complementary and comprehensive view on protein structure and dynamics. What is needed now is a better understanding of the link between the dynamic properties that we observe and the functional properties of these important cellular machines. To make progresses in this direction, we need to improve the physical models used to describe proteins and solvent in molecular dynamics, as well as to strengthen the integration of experiments and simulations to overcome their own limitations. Moreover, now that we have the means to study protein dynamics in great details, we need new tools to understand the information embedded in the protein ensembles and in their dynamic signature. With this aim in mind, we should enrich the current tools for analysis of biomolecular simulations with attention to the effects that can be propagated over long distances and are often associated to important biological functions. In this context, approaches inspired by network analysis can make an important contribution to the analysis of molecular dynamics simulations.

Hydrogen Tunneling Links Protein Dynamics to Enzyme Catalysis

Science.gov (United States)

Klinman, Judith P.; Kohen, Amnon

2014-01-01

The relationship between protein dynamics and function is a subject of considerable contemporary interest. Although protein motions are frequently observed during ligand binding and release steps, the contribution of protein motions to the catalysis of bond making/breaking processes is more difficult to probe and verify. Here, we show how the quantum mechanical hydrogen tunneling associated with enzymatic C–H bond cleavage provides a unique window into the necessity of protein dynamics for achieving optimal catalysis. Experimental findings support a hierarchy of thermodynamically equilibrated motions that control the H-donor and -acceptor distance and active-site electrostatics, creating an ensemble of conformations suitable for H-tunneling. A possible extension of this view to methyl transfer and other catalyzed reactions is also presented. The impact of understanding these dynamics on the conceptual framework for enzyme activity, inhibitor/drug design, and biomimetic catalyst design is likely to be substantial. PMID:23746260

Dynamics of proteins aggregation. II. Dynamic scaling in confined media

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Size; Shing, Katherine S.; Sahimi, Muhammad

2018-03-01

In this paper, the second in a series devoted to molecular modeling of protein aggregation, a mesoscale model of proteins together with extensive discontinuous molecular dynamics simulation is used to study the phenomenon in a confined medium. The medium, as a model of a crowded cellular environment, is represented by a spherical cavity, as well as cylindrical tubes with two aspect ratios. The aggregation process leads to the formation of β sheets and eventually fibrils, whose deposition on biological tissues is believed to be a major factor contributing to many neuro-degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diseases. Several important properties of the aggregation process, including dynamic evolution of the total number of the aggregates, the mean aggregate size, and the number of peptides that contribute to the formation of the β sheets, have been computed. We show, similar to the unconfined media studied in Paper I [S. Zheng et al., J. Chem. Phys. 145, 134306 (2016)], that the computed properties follow dynamic scaling, characterized by power laws. The existence of such dynamic scaling in unconfined media was recently confirmed by experiments. The exponents that characterize the power-law dependence on time of the properties of the aggregation process in spherical cavities are shown to agree with those in unbounded fluids at the same protein density, while the exponents for aggregation in the cylindrical tubes exhibit sensitivity to the geometry of the system. The effects of the number of amino acids in the protein, as well as the size of the confined media, have also been studied. Similarities and differences between aggregation in confined and unconfined media are described, including the possibility of no fibril formation, if confinement is severe.

Normal mode analysis as a method to derive protein dynamics information from the Protein Data Bank.

Science.gov (United States)

Wako, Hiroshi; Endo, Shigeru

2017-12-01

Normal mode analysis (NMA) can facilitate quick and systematic investigation of protein dynamics using data from the Protein Data Bank (PDB). We developed an elastic network model-based NMA program using dihedral angles as independent variables. Compared to the NMA programs that use Cartesian coordinates as independent variables, key attributes of the proposed program are as follows: (1) chain connectivity related to the folding pattern of a polypeptide chain is naturally embedded in the model; (2) the full-atom system is acceptable, and owing to a considerably smaller number of independent variables, the PDB data can be used without further manipulation; (3) the number of variables can be easily reduced by some of the rotatable dihedral angles; (4) the PDB data for any molecule besides proteins can be considered without coarse-graining; and (5) individual motions of constituent subunits and ligand molecules can be easily decomposed into external and internal motions to examine their mutual and intrinsic motions. Its performance is illustrated with an example of a DNA-binding allosteric protein, a catabolite activator protein. In particular, the focus is on the conformational change upon cAMP and DNA binding, and on the communication between their binding sites remotely located from each other. In this illustration, NMA creates a vivid picture of the protein dynamics at various levels of the structures, i.e., atoms, residues, secondary structures, domains, subunits, and the complete system, including DNA and cAMP. Comparative studies of the specific protein in different states, e.g., apo- and holo-conformations, and free and complexed configurations, provide useful information for studying structurally and functionally important aspects of the protein.

Protein-membrane interaction: effect of myelin basic protein on the dynamics of oriented lipids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Natali, F.; Relini, A.; Gliozzi, A.; Rolandi, R.; Cavatorta, P.; Deriu, A.; Fasano, A.; Riccio, P

2003-08-01

We have studied the effect of physiological amounts of myelin basic protein (MBP) on pure dimyristoyl L-{alpha}-phosphatidic acid (DMPA) oriented membranes. The investigation has been carried out using several complementary experimental methods to provide a detailed characterization of the proteo-lipid complexes. In particular, taking advantage of the power of the quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) technique as optimal probe in biology, a significant effect is suggested to be induced by MBP on the anisotropy of lipid dynamics across the liquid-gel phase transition. Thus, the enhancement of the spatially restricted, vertical translation motion of DMPA is suggested to be the main responsible for the increased contribution of the out of plane lipid dynamics observed at 340 K.

Extracting protein dynamics information from overlapped NMR signals using relaxation dispersion difference NMR spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Konuma, Tsuyoshi; Harada, Erisa; Sugase, Kenji

2015-12-01

Protein dynamics plays important roles in many biological events, such as ligand binding and enzyme reactions. NMR is mostly used for investigating such protein dynamics in a site-specific manner. Recently, NMR has been actively applied to large proteins and intrinsically disordered proteins, which are attractive research targets. However, signal overlap, which is often observed for such proteins, hampers accurate analysis of NMR data. In this study, we have developed a new methodology called relaxation dispersion difference that can extract conformational exchange parameters from overlapped NMR signals measured using relaxation dispersion spectroscopy. In relaxation dispersion measurements, the signal intensities of fluctuating residues vary according to the Carr-Purcell-Meiboon-Gill pulsing interval, whereas those of non-fluctuating residues are constant. Therefore, subtraction of each relaxation dispersion spectrum from that with the highest signal intensities, measured at the shortest pulsing interval, leaves only the signals of the fluctuating residues. This is the principle of the relaxation dispersion difference method. This new method enabled us to extract exchange parameters from overlapped signals of heme oxygenase-1, which is a relatively large protein. The results indicate that the structural flexibility of a kink in the heme-binding site is important for efficient heme binding. Relaxation dispersion difference requires neither selectively labeled samples nor modification of pulse programs; thus it will have wide applications in protein dynamics analysis.

Extracting protein dynamics information from overlapped NMR signals using relaxation dispersion difference NMR spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Konuma, Tsuyoshi [Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Department of Structural and Chemical Biology (United States); Harada, Erisa [Suntory Foundation for Life Sciences, Bioorganic Research Institute (Japan); Sugase, Kenji, E-mail: sugase@sunbor.or.jp, E-mail: sugase@moleng.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Kyoto University, Department of Molecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering (Japan)

2015-12-15

Protein dynamics plays important roles in many biological events, such as ligand binding and enzyme reactions. NMR is mostly used for investigating such protein dynamics in a site-specific manner. Recently, NMR has been actively applied to large proteins and intrinsically disordered proteins, which are attractive research targets. However, signal overlap, which is often observed for such proteins, hampers accurate analysis of NMR data. In this study, we have developed a new methodology called relaxation dispersion difference that can extract conformational exchange parameters from overlapped NMR signals measured using relaxation dispersion spectroscopy. In relaxation dispersion measurements, the signal intensities of fluctuating residues vary according to the Carr-Purcell-Meiboon-Gill pulsing interval, whereas those of non-fluctuating residues are constant. Therefore, subtraction of each relaxation dispersion spectrum from that with the highest signal intensities, measured at the shortest pulsing interval, leaves only the signals of the fluctuating residues. This is the principle of the relaxation dispersion difference method. This new method enabled us to extract exchange parameters from overlapped signals of heme oxygenase-1, which is a relatively large protein. The results indicate that the structural flexibility of a kink in the heme-binding site is important for efficient heme binding. Relaxation dispersion difference requires neither selectively labeled samples nor modification of pulse programs; thus it will have wide applications in protein dynamics analysis.

Discriminating lysosomal membrane protein types using dynamic neural network.

Science.gov (United States)

Tripathi, Vijay; Gupta, Dwijendra Kumar

2014-01-01

This work presents a dynamic artificial neural network methodology, which classifies the proteins into their classes from their sequences alone: the lysosomal membrane protein classes and the various other membranes protein classes. In this paper, neural networks-based lysosomal-associated membrane protein type prediction system is proposed. Different protein sequence representations are fused to extract the features of a protein sequence, which includes seven feature sets; amino acid (AA) composition, sequence length, hydrophobic group, electronic group, sum of hydrophobicity, R-group, and dipeptide composition. To reduce the dimensionality of the large feature vector, we applied the principal component analysis. The probabilistic neural network, generalized regression neural network, and Elman regression neural network (RNN) are used as classifiers and compared with layer recurrent network (LRN), a dynamic network. The dynamic networks have memory, i.e. its output depends not only on the input but the previous outputs also. Thus, the accuracy of LRN classifier among all other artificial neural networks comes out to be the highest. The overall accuracy of jackknife cross-validation is 93.2% for the data-set. These predicted results suggest that the method can be effectively applied to discriminate lysosomal associated membrane proteins from other membrane proteins (Type-I, Outer membrane proteins, GPI-Anchored) and Globular proteins, and it also indicates that the protein sequence representation can better reflect the core feature of membrane proteins than the classical AA composition.

Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer system for measuring dynamic protein-protein interactions in bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Boyu; Wang, Yao; Song, Yunhong; Wang, Tietao; Li, Changfu; Wei, Yahong; Luo, Zhao-Qing; Shen, Xihui

2014-05-20

Protein-protein interactions are important for virtually every biological process, and a number of elegant approaches have been designed to detect and evaluate such interactions. However, few of these methods allow the detection of dynamic and real-time protein-protein interactions in bacteria. Here we describe a bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) system based on the bacterial luciferase LuxAB. We found that enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (eYFP) accepts the emission from LuxAB and emits yellow fluorescence. Importantly, BRET occurred when LuxAB and eYFP were fused, respectively, to the interacting protein pair FlgM and FliA. Furthermore, we observed sirolimus (i.e., rapamycin)-inducible interactions between FRB and FKBP12 and a dose-dependent abolishment of such interactions by FK506, the ligand of FKBP12. Using this system, we showed that osmotic stress or low pH efficiently induced multimerization of the regulatory protein OmpR and that the multimerization induced by low pH can be reversed by a neutralizing agent, further indicating the usefulness of this system in the measurement of dynamic interactions. This method can be adapted to analyze dynamic protein-protein interactions and the importance of such interactions in bacterial processes such as development and pathogenicity. Real-time measurement of protein-protein interactions in prokaryotes is highly desirable for determining the roles of protein complex in the development or virulence of bacteria, but methods that allow such measurement are not available. Here we describe the development of a bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) technology that meets this need. The use of endogenous excitation light in this strategy circumvents the requirement for the sophisticated instrument demanded by standard fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Furthermore, because the LuxAB substrate decanal is membrane permeable, the assay can be performed without lysing the bacterial cells

Time-resolved infrared studies of protein conformational dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woodruff, W.H.; Causgrove, T.P.; Dyer, R.B. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM (United States); Callender, R.H. [Univ. of New York, NY (United States)

1994-12-01

We have demonstrated that TRIR in the amide I region gives structural information regarding protein conformational changes in realtime, both on processes involved in the development of the functional structure (protein folding) and on protein structural changes that accompany the functional dynamics of the native structure. Assignment of many of the amide I peaks to specific amide or sidechain structures will require much additional effort. Specifically, the congestion and complexity of the protein vibrational spectra dictate that isotope studies are an absolute requirement for more than a qualitative notion of the structural interpretation of these measurements. It is clear, however, that enormous potential exists for elucidating structural relaxation dynamics and energetics with a high degree of structural specificity using this approach.

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of a Flexible Polyethylene: A Protein-Like Behaviour in a Water Solvent

CERN Document Server

Kretov, D A

2005-01-01

We used molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the density and the temperature behaviour of a flexible polyethylene (PE) subjected to various heating conditions and to investigate the PE chain conformational changes in a water solvent. First, we have considered the influence of the heating process on the final state of the polymeric system and the sensitivity of its thermodynamic characteristics (density, energy, etc.) for different heating regimes. For this purpose three different simulations were performed: fast, moderate, and slow heating. Second, we have investigated the PE chain conformational dynamics in water solvent for various simulation conditions and various configurations of the environment. From the obtained results we have got the pictures of the PE dynamical motions in water. We have observed a protein-like behaviour of the PE chain, like that of the DNA and the proteins in water, and have also estimated the rates of the conformational changes. For the MD simulations we used the optimized...

Investigation of intramolecular dynamics and conformations of α-, β- and γ-synuclein.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vanessa C Ducas

Full Text Available The synucleins are a family of natively unstructured proteins consisting of α-, β-, and γ-synuclein which are primarily expressed in neurons. They have been linked to a wide variety of pathologies, including neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease (α-synuclein and dementia with Lewy bodies (α- and β-synuclein, as well as various types of cancers (γ-synuclein. Self-association is a key pathological feature of many of these disorders, with α-synuclein having the highest propensity to form aggregates, while β-synuclein is the least prone. Here, we used a combination of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and single molecule Förster resonance energy transfer to compare the intrinsic dynamics of different regions of all three synuclein proteins to investigate any correlation with putative functional or dysfunctional interactions. Despite a relatively high degree of sequence homology, we find that individual regions sample a broad range of diffusion coefficients, differing by almost a factor of four. At low pH, a condition that accelerates aggregation of α-synuclein, on average smaller diffusion coefficients are measured, supporting a hypothesis that slower intrachain dynamics may be correlated with self-association. Moreover, there is a surprising inverse correlation between dynamics and bulkiness of the segments. Aside from this observation, we could not discern any clear relationship between the physico-chemical properties of the constructs and their intrinsic dynamics. This work suggests that while protein dynamics may play a role in modulating self-association or interactions with other binding partners, other factors, particularly the local cellular environment, may be more important.

Molecular dynamics of surfactant protein C

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ramírez, Eunice; Santana, Alberto; Cruz, Anthony

2006-01-01

Surfactant protein C (SP-C) is a membrane-associated protein essential for normal respiration. It has been found that the alpha-helix form of SP-C can undergo, under certain conditions, a transformation from an alpha-helix to a beta-strand conformation that closely resembles amyloid fibrils, which...... are possible contributors to the pathogenesis of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. Molecular dynamics simulations using the NAMD2 package were performed for systems containing from one to seven SP-C molecules to study their behavior in water. The results of our simulations show that unfolding of the protein...

Organization and Dynamics of Receptor Proteins in a Plasma Membrane.

Science.gov (United States)

Koldsø, Heidi; Sansom, Mark S P

2015-11-25

The interactions of membrane proteins are influenced by their lipid environment, with key lipid species able to regulate membrane protein function. Advances in high-resolution microscopy can reveal the organization and dynamics of proteins and lipids within living cells at resolutions membranes of in vivo-like complexity. We explore the dynamics of proteins and lipids in crowded and complex plasma membrane models, thereby closing the gap in length and complexity between computations and experiments. Our simulations provide insights into the mutual interplay between lipids and proteins in determining mesoscale (20-100 nm) fluctuations of the bilayer, and in enabling oligomerization and clustering of membrane proteins.

How proteins modify water dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Persson, Filip; Söderhjelm, Pär; Halle, Bertil

2018-06-01

Much of biology happens at the protein-water interface, so all dynamical processes in this region are of fundamental importance. Local structural fluctuations in the hydration layer can be probed by 17O magnetic relaxation dispersion (MRD), which, at high frequencies, measures the integral of a biaxial rotational time correlation function (TCF)—the integral rotational correlation time. Numerous 17O MRD studies have demonstrated that this correlation time, when averaged over the first hydration shell, is longer than in bulk water by a factor 3-5. This rotational perturbation factor (RPF) has been corroborated by molecular dynamics simulations, which can also reveal the underlying molecular mechanisms. Here, we address several outstanding problems in this area by analyzing an extensive set of molecular dynamics data, including four globular proteins and three water models. The vexed issue of polarity versus topography as the primary determinant of hydration water dynamics is resolved by establishing a protein-invariant exponential dependence of the RPF on a simple confinement index. We conclude that the previously observed correlation of the RPF with surface polarity is a secondary effect of the correlation between polarity and confinement. Water rotation interpolates between a perturbed but bulk-like collective mechanism at low confinement and an exchange-mediated orientational randomization (EMOR) mechanism at high confinement. The EMOR process, which accounts for about half of the RPF, was not recognized in previous simulation studies, where only the early part of the TCF was examined. Based on the analysis of the experimentally relevant TCF over its full time course, we compare simulated and measured RPFs, finding a 30% discrepancy attributable to force field imperfections. We also compute the full 17O MRD profile, including the low-frequency dispersion produced by buried water molecules. Computing a local RPF for each hydration shell, we find that the

Evolutionary dynamics of protein domain architecture in plants

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Zhang Xue-Cheng

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Protein domains are the structural, functional and evolutionary units of the protein. Protein domain architectures are the linear arrangements of domain(s in individual proteins. Although the evolutionary history of protein domain architecture has been extensively studied in microorganisms, the evolutionary dynamics of domain architecture in the plant kingdom remains largely undefined. To address this question, we analyzed the lineage-based protein domain architecture content in 14 completed green plant genomes. Results Our analyses show that all 14 plant genomes maintain similar distributions of species-specific, single-domain, and multi-domain architectures. Approximately 65% of plant domain architectures are universally present in all plant lineages, while the remaining architectures are lineage-specific. Clear examples are seen of both the loss and gain of specific protein architectures in higher plants. There has been a dynamic, lineage-wise expansion of domain architectures during plant evolution. The data suggest that this expansion can be largely explained by changes in nuclear ploidy resulting from rounds of whole genome duplications. Indeed, there has been a decrease in the number of unique domain architectures when the genomes were normalized into a presumed ancestral genome that has not undergone whole genome duplications. Conclusions Our data show the conservation of universal domain architectures in all available plant genomes, indicating the presence of an evolutionarily conserved, core set of protein components. However, the occurrence of lineage-specific domain architectures indicates that domain architecture diversity has been maintained beyond these core components in plant genomes. Although several features of genome-wide domain architecture content are conserved in plants, the data clearly demonstrate lineage-wise, progressive changes and expansions of individual protein domain architectures, reinforcing

Integrating atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, experiments, and network analysis to study protein dynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Papaleo, Elena

2015-01-01

that we observe and the functional properties of these important cellular machines. To make progresses in this direction, we need to improve the physical models used to describe proteins and solvent in molecular dynamics, as well as to strengthen the integration of experiments and simulations to overcome...... with the possibility to validate simulation methods and physical models against a broad range of experimental observables. On the other side, it also allows a complementary and comprehensive view on protein structure and dynamics. What is needed now is a better understanding of the link between the dynamic properties...... simulations with attention to the effects that can be propagated over long distances and are often associated to important biological functions. In this context, approaches inspired by network analysis can make an important contribution to the analysis of molecular dynamics simulations....

Dynamics in electron transfer protein complexes

OpenAIRE

Bashir, Qamar

2010-01-01

Recent studies have provided experimental evidence for the existence of an encounter complex, a transient intermediate in the formation of protein complexes. We have used paramagnetic relaxation enhancement NMR spectroscopy in combination with Monte Carlo simulations to characterize and visualize the ensemble of encounter orientations in the short-lived electron transfer complex of yeast Cc and CcP. The complete conformational space sampled by the protein molecules during the dynamic part of ...

Flexibility damps macromolecular crowding effects on protein folding dynamics: Application to the murine prion protein (121-231)

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Bergasa-Caceres, Fernando; Rabitz, Herschel A.

2014-01-01

A model of protein folding kinetics is applied to study the combined effects of protein flexibility and macromolecular crowding on protein folding rate and stability. It is found that the increase in stability and folding rate promoted by macromolecular crowding is damped for proteins with highly flexible native structures. The model is applied to the folding dynamics of the murine prion protein (121-231). It is found that the high flexibility of the native isoform of the murine prion protein (121-231) reduces the effects of macromolecular crowding on its folding dynamics. The relevance of these findings for the pathogenic mechanism are discussed.

A study of the dynamics of PTEN proteins in living cells using in vivo fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Zhixue; Dong, Chaoqing; Ren, Jicun

2017-06-01

PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog on chromosome 10) is one of the most important tumor-suppressor proteins, which plays a key role in negative regulation of the PI3K/AKT pathway, and governs many cellular processes including growth, proliferation, survival and migration. The dynamics of PTEN proteins in single living cells is as yet unclear owing to a shortage of suitable in vivo approaches. Here, we report a single-molecule method for in vivo study of the dynamics of PTEN proteins in living cells using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). First, we established a monoclonal H1299 stable cell line expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and PTEN (EGFP-PTEN) fusion proteins; we then developed an in vivo FCS method to study the dynamics of EGFP-PTEN both in the nucleus and the cytoplasm. We investigated the diffusion behaviors of EGFP and EGFP-PTEN in solution, nucleus and cytosol, and observed that the motion of PTEN in living cells was restricted compared with EGFP. Finally, we investigated the protein dynamics in living cells under oxidative stress stimulation and a cellular ATP depletion treatment. Under oxidative stress stimulation, the EGFP-PTEN concentration increased in the nucleus, but slightly decreased in the cytoplasm. The diffusion coefficient and alpha value of EGFP-PTEN reduced significantly both in the nucleus and cytoplasm; the significantly decreased alpha parameter indicates a more restricted Brownian diffusion behavior. Under the cellular ATP depletion treatment, the concentration of EGFP-PTEN remained unchanged in the nucleus and decreased significantly in cytosol. The diffusion coefficient of EGFP-PTEN decreased significantly in cytosol, but showed no significant change in the nucleus; the alpha value decreased significantly in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. These results suggest that the concentration and mobility of PTEN in the nucleus and cytoplasm can be regulated by stimulation methods. Our approach provides a unique

Dynamic organization of genetic recombination proteins and chromosomes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Essers, J.; Van Cappellen, G.; Van Drunen, E.; Theil, A.; Jaspers, N.N.G.J.; Houtsmuller, A.B.; Vermeulen, W.; Kanaar, R.

2003-01-01

Homologous recombination requires the co-ordinated action of the RAD52 group proteins, including Rad51, Rad52 and Rad54. Upon treatment of mammalian cells with ionizing radiation, these proteins accumulate into foci at sites of DSB induction. We probed the nature of the DNA damage-induced foci in living cells with the use of photobleaching techniques. These foci are not static assemblies of DNA repair proteins. Instead, they are dynamic structures of which Rad51 is a stable core component, while Rad52 and Rad54 reversibly interact with the structure. Furthermore, even though the RAD52 group proteins colocalize in the DNA damage-induced foci, the majority of the proteins are not part of the same multi-protein complex in the absence of DNA damage. Executing DNA transactions through dynamic multi-protein complexes, rather than stable holo-complexes, allows greater flexibility during the transaction. In case of DNA repair, for example, it allows cross talk between different DNA repair pathways and coupling to other DNA transactions, such as replication. In addition to the behavior of proteins in living cells, we have tracked chromosomes during cell division. Our results suggest that the relative position of chromosomes in the mother cell is conserved in its daughter cells

In-Culture Cross-Linking of Bacterial Cells Reveals Large-Scale Dynamic Protein-Protein Interactions at the Peptide Level.

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de Jong, Luitzen; de Koning, Edward A; Roseboom, Winfried; Buncherd, Hansuk; Wanner, Martin J; Dapic, Irena; Jansen, Petra J; van Maarseveen, Jan H; Corthals, Garry L; Lewis, Peter J; Hamoen, Leendert W; de Koster, Chris G

2017-07-07

Identification of dynamic protein-protein interactions at the peptide level on a proteomic scale is a challenging approach that is still in its infancy. We have developed a system to cross-link cells directly in culture with the special lysine cross-linker bis(succinimidyl)-3-azidomethyl-glutarate (BAMG). We used the Gram-positive model bacterium Bacillus subtilis as an exemplar system. Within 5 min extensive intracellular cross-linking was detected, while intracellular cross-linking in a Gram-negative species, Escherichia coli, was still undetectable after 30 min, in agreement with the low permeability in this organism for lipophilic compounds like BAMG. We were able to identify 82 unique interprotein cross-linked peptides with cross-links occur in assemblies involved in transcription and translation. Several of these interactions are new, and we identified a binding site between the δ and β' subunit of RNA polymerase close to the downstream DNA channel, providing a clue into how δ might regulate promoter selectivity and promote RNA polymerase recycling. Our methodology opens new avenues to investigate the functional dynamic organization of complex protein assemblies involved in bacterial growth. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD006287.

Theoretical investigation of interaction of sorbitol molecules with alcohol dehydrogenase in aqueous solution using molecular dynamics simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahrami, Homayoon; Zahedi, Mansour; Moosavi-Movahedi, Ali Akbar; Azizian, Homa; Amanlou, Massoud

2011-03-01

The nature of protein-sorbitol-water interaction in solution at the molecular level, has been investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. In order to do this task, two molecular dynamics simulations of the protein ADH in solution at room temperature have been carried out, one in the presence (about 0.9 M) and another in the absence of sorbitol. The results show that the sorbitol molecules cluster and move toward the protein, and form hydrogen bonds with protein. Also, coating by sorbitol reduces the conformational fluctuations of the protein compared to the sorbitol-free system. Thus, it is concluded that at moderate concentration of sorbitol solution, sorbitol molecules interact with ADH via many H-bonds that prevent the protein folding. In fact, at more concentrated sorbitol solution, water and sorbitol molecules accumulate around the protein surface and form a continuous space-filling network to reduce the protein flexibility. Namely, in such solution, sorbitol molecules can stabilize a misfolded state of ADH, and prevent the protein from folding to its native structure.

Surface dynamics in allosteric regulation of protein-protein interactions: modulation of calmodulin functions by Ca2+.

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Yosef Y Kuttner

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Knowledge of the structural basis of protein-protein interactions (PPI is of fundamental importance for understanding the organization and functioning of biological networks and advancing the design of therapeutics which target PPI. Allosteric modulators play an important role in regulating such interactions by binding at site(s orthogonal to the complex interface and altering the protein's propensity for complex formation. In this work, we apply an approach recently developed by us for analyzing protein surfaces based on steered molecular dynamics simulation (SMD to the study of the dynamic properties of functionally distinct conformations of a model protein, calmodulin (CaM, whose ability to interact with target proteins is regulated by the presence of the allosteric modulator Ca(2+. Calmodulin is a regulatory protein that acts as an intracellular Ca(2+ sensor to control a wide variety of cellular processes. We demonstrate that SMD analysis is capable of pinpointing CaM surfaces implicated in the recognition of both the allosteric modulator Ca(2+ and target proteins. Our analysis of changes in the dynamic properties of the CaM backbone elicited by Ca(2+ binding yielded new insights into the molecular mechanism of allosteric regulation of CaM-target interactions.

Intermolecular detergent-membrane protein noes for the characterization of the dynamics of membrane protein-detergent complexes.

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Eichmann, Cédric; Orts, Julien; Tzitzilonis, Christos; Vögeli, Beat; Smrt, Sean; Lorieau, Justin; Riek, Roland

2014-12-11

The interaction between membrane proteins and lipids or lipid mimetics such as detergents is key for the three-dimensional structure and dynamics of membrane proteins. In NMR-based structural studies of membrane proteins, qualitative analysis of intermolecular nuclear Overhauser enhancements (NOEs) or paramagnetic resonance enhancement are used in general to identify the transmembrane segments of a membrane protein. Here, we employed a quantitative characterization of intermolecular NOEs between (1)H of the detergent and (1)H(N) of (2)H-perdeuterated, (15)N-labeled α-helical membrane protein-detergent complexes following the exact NOE (eNOE) approach. Structural considerations suggest that these intermolecular NOEs should show a helical-wheel-type behavior along a transmembrane helix or a membrane-attached helix within a membrane protein as experimentally demonstrated for the complete influenza hemagglutinin fusion domain HAfp23. The partial absence of such a NOE pattern along the amino acid sequence as shown for a truncated variant of HAfp23 and for the Escherichia coli inner membrane protein YidH indicates the presence of large tertiary structure fluctuations such as an opening between helices or the presence of large rotational dynamics of the helices. Detergent-protein NOEs thus appear to be a straightforward probe for a qualitative characterization of structural and dynamical properties of membrane proteins embedded in detergent micelles.

Motion Tree Delineates Hierarchical Structure of Protein Dynamics Observed in Molecular Dynamics Simulation.

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Kei Moritsugu

Full Text Available Molecular dynamics (MD simulations of proteins provide important information to understand their functional mechanisms, which are, however, likely to be hidden behind their complicated motions with a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. A straightforward and intuitive analysis of protein dynamics observed in MD simulation trajectories is therefore of growing significance with the large increase in both the simulation time and system size. In this study, we propose a novel description of protein motions based on the hierarchical clustering of fluctuations in the inter-atomic distances calculated from an MD trajectory, which constructs a single tree diagram, named a "Motion Tree", to determine a set of rigid-domain pairs hierarchically along with associated inter-domain fluctuations. The method was first applied to the MD trajectory of substrate-free adenylate kinase to clarify the usefulness of the Motion Tree, which illustrated a clear-cut dynamics picture of the inter-domain motions involving the ATP/AMP lid and the core domain together with the associated amplitudes and correlations. The comparison of two Motion Trees calculated from MD simulations of ligand-free and -bound glutamine binding proteins clarified changes in inherent dynamics upon ligand binding appeared in both large domains and a small loop that stabilized ligand molecule. Another application to a huge protein, a multidrug ATP binding cassette (ABC transporter, captured significant increases of fluctuations upon binding a drug molecule observed in both large scale inter-subunit motions and a motion localized at a transmembrane helix, which may be a trigger to the subsequent structural change from inward-open to outward-open states to transport the drug molecule. These applications demonstrated the capabilities of Motion Trees to provide an at-a-glance view of various sizes of functional motions inherent in the complicated MD trajectory.

Molecular nonlinear dynamics and protein thermal uncertainty quantification

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Kelin; Wei, Guo-Wei

2014-01-01

This work introduces molecular nonlinear dynamics (MND) as a new approach for describing protein folding and aggregation. By using a mode system, we show that the MND of disordered proteins is chaotic while that of folded proteins exhibits intrinsically low dimensional manifolds (ILDMs). The stability of ILDMs is found to strongly correlate with protein energies. We propose a novel method for protein thermal uncertainty quantification based on persistently invariant ILDMs. Extensive comparison with experimental data and the state-of-the-art methods in the field validate the proposed new method for protein B-factor prediction. PMID:24697365

Microsecond molecular dynamics simulation shows effect of slow loop dynamics on backbone amide order parameters of proteins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maragakis, Paul; Lindorff-Larsen, Kresten; Eastwood, Michael P

2008-01-01

. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation provides a complementary approach to the study of protein dynamics on similar time scales. Comparisons between NMR spectroscopy and MD simulations can be used to interpret experimental results and to improve the quality of simulation-related force fields and integration......A molecular-level understanding of the function of a protein requires knowledge of both its structural and dynamic properties. NMR spectroscopy allows the measurement of generalized order parameters that provide an atomistic description of picosecond and nanosecond fluctuations in protein structure...... methods. However, apparent systematic discrepancies between order parameters extracted from simulations and experiments are common, particularly for elements of noncanonical secondary structure. In this paper, results from a 1.2 micros explicit solvent MD simulation of the protein ubiquitin are compared...

Exploration of Protein Conformational Change with PELE and Meta-Dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Cossins, Benjamin P; Hosseini, Ali; Guallar, Victor

2012-03-13

Atomistic molecular simulation methods are now able to explore complex protein or protein-ligand dynamical space in a tractable way with methods such as meta-dynamics or adaptive biasing force. However, many of these methods either require a careful selection of reaction coordinates or the knowledge of an initial pathway of some kind. Thus, it is important that effective methods are developed to produce this pathway data in an efficient fashion. PELE, a proven protein-ligand sampling code, has been developed to provide rapid protein sampling in highly flexible cases, using a reduced network model eigen problem approach. The resulting method is able to rapidly sample configuration space with very general driving information. When applied to ubiquitin, PELE was able to reproduce RMSD and average force data found in molecular dynamics simulations. PELE was also applied to explore the opening/closing transition of T4 lysozyme. A meta-dynamics exploration using a low energy pathway validated that the configurations explored by PELE represent the most populated regions of phase space. PELE and meta-dynamics explorations also discovered a low free energy region where a large cross-domain helix of T4 lysozyme is broken in two. There is previous NMR evidence for the validity of this unfolded helix region.

Neutron scattering studies on protein dynamics using the human myelin peripheral membrane protein P2

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Laulumaa Saara

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Myelin is a multilayered proteolipid membrane structure surrounding selected axons in the vertebrate nervous system, which allows the rapid saltatory conduction of nerve impulses. Deficits in myelin formation and maintenance may lead to chronic neurological disease. P2 is an abundant myelin protein from peripheral nerves, binding between two apposing lipid bilayers. We studied the dynamics of the human myelin protein P2 and its mutated P38G variant in hydrated powders using elastic incoherent neutron scattering. The local harmonic vibrations at low temperatures were very similar for both samples, but the mutant protein had increased flexibility and softness close to physiological temperatures. The results indicate that a drastic mutation of proline to glycine at a functional site can affect protein dynamics, and in the case of P2, they may explain functional differences between the two proteins.

Neutron scattering studies on protein dynamics using the human myelin peripheral membrane protein P2

Science.gov (United States)

Laulumaa, Saara; Kursula, Petri; Natali, Francesca

2015-01-01

Myelin is a multilayered proteolipid membrane structure surrounding selected axons in the vertebrate nervous system, which allows the rapid saltatory conduction of nerve impulses. Deficits in myelin formation and maintenance may lead to chronic neurological disease. P2 is an abundant myelin protein from peripheral nerves, binding between two apposing lipid bilayers. We studied the dynamics of the human myelin protein P2 and its mutated P38G variant in hydrated powders using elastic incoherent neutron scattering. The local harmonic vibrations at low temperatures were very similar for both samples, but the mutant protein had increased flexibility and softness close to physiological temperatures. The results indicate that a drastic mutation of proline to glycine at a functional site can affect protein dynamics, and in the case of P2, they may explain functional differences between the two proteins.

Enhancing protein adsorption simulations by using accelerated molecular dynamics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Mücksch

Full Text Available The atomistic modeling of protein adsorption on surfaces is hampered by the different time scales of the simulation ([Formula: see text][Formula: see text]s and experiment (up to hours, and the accordingly different 'final' adsorption conformations. We provide evidence that the method of accelerated molecular dynamics is an efficient tool to obtain equilibrated adsorption states. As a model system we study the adsorption of the protein BMP-2 on graphite in an explicit salt water environment. We demonstrate that due to the considerably improved sampling of conformational space, accelerated molecular dynamics allows to observe the complete unfolding and spreading of the protein on the hydrophobic graphite surface. This result is in agreement with the general finding of protein denaturation upon contact with hydrophobic surfaces.

Dynamic strength of the interaction between lung surfactant protein D (SP-D) and saccharide ligands

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thormann, Esben; Dreyer, Jakob K; Simonsen, Adam C

2007-01-01

In order to investigate the dynamic strength of the interaction between lung surfactant protein D (SP-D) and different sugars, maltose, mannose, glucose, and galactose, we have used an atomic force microscope to monitor the interaction on a single molecule scale. The experiment is performed...

The dynamic multisite interactions between two intrinsically disordered proteins

KAUST Repository

Wu, Shaowen; Wang, Dongdong; Liu, Jin; Feng, Yitao; Weng, Jingwei; Li, Yu; Gao, Xin; Liu, Jianwei; Wang, Wenning

2017-01-01

Protein interactions involving intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) comprise a variety of binding modes, from the well characterized folding upon binding to dynamic fuzzy complex. To date, most studies concern the binding of an IDP to a

Identifying protein complex by integrating characteristic of core-attachment into dynamic PPI network.

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Xianjun Shen

Full Text Available How to identify protein complex is an important and challenging task in proteomics. It would make great contribution to our knowledge of molecular mechanism in cell life activities. However, the inherent organization and dynamic characteristic of cell system have rarely been incorporated into the existing algorithms for detecting protein complexes because of the limitation of protein-protein interaction (PPI data produced by high throughput techniques. The availability of time course gene expression profile enables us to uncover the dynamics of molecular networks and improve the detection of protein complexes. In order to achieve this goal, this paper proposes a novel algorithm DCA (Dynamic Core-Attachment. It detects protein-complex core comprising of continually expressed and highly connected proteins in dynamic PPI network, and then the protein complex is formed by including the attachments with high adhesion into the core. The integration of core-attachment feature into the dynamic PPI network is responsible for the superiority of our algorithm. DCA has been applied on two different yeast dynamic PPI networks and the experimental results show that it performs significantly better than the state-of-the-art techniques in terms of prediction accuracy, hF-measure and statistical significance in biology. In addition, the identified complexes with strong biological significance provide potential candidate complexes for biologists to validate.

Markov dynamic models for long-timescale protein motion.

KAUST Repository

Chiang, Tsung-Han

2010-06-01

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is a well-established method for studying protein motion at the atomic scale. However, it is computationally intensive and generates massive amounts of data. One way of addressing the dual challenges of computation efficiency and data analysis is to construct simplified models of long-timescale protein motion from MD simulation data. In this direction, we propose to use Markov models with hidden states, in which the Markovian states represent potentially overlapping probabilistic distributions over protein conformations. We also propose a principled criterion for evaluating the quality of a model by its ability to predict long-timescale protein motions. Our method was tested on 2D synthetic energy landscapes and two extensively studied peptides, alanine dipeptide and the villin headpiece subdomain (HP-35 NleNle). One interesting finding is that although a widely accepted model of alanine dipeptide contains six states, a simpler model with only three states is equally good for predicting long-timescale motions. We also used the constructed Markov models to estimate important kinetic and dynamic quantities for protein folding, in particular, mean first-passage time. The results are consistent with available experimental measurements.

Markov dynamic models for long-timescale protein motion.

KAUST Repository

Chiang, Tsung-Han; Hsu, David; Latombe, Jean-Claude

2010-01-01

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is a well-established method for studying protein motion at the atomic scale. However, it is computationally intensive and generates massive amounts of data. One way of addressing the dual challenges of computation efficiency and data analysis is to construct simplified models of long-timescale protein motion from MD simulation data. In this direction, we propose to use Markov models with hidden states, in which the Markovian states represent potentially overlapping probabilistic distributions over protein conformations. We also propose a principled criterion for evaluating the quality of a model by its ability to predict long-timescale protein motions. Our method was tested on 2D synthetic energy landscapes and two extensively studied peptides, alanine dipeptide and the villin headpiece subdomain (HP-35 NleNle). One interesting finding is that although a widely accepted model of alanine dipeptide contains six states, a simpler model with only three states is equally good for predicting long-timescale motions. We also used the constructed Markov models to estimate important kinetic and dynamic quantities for protein folding, in particular, mean first-passage time. The results are consistent with available experimental measurements.

Molecular dynamics simulations of a flexible polyethylene: a protein-like behaviour in a water solvent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kretov, D.A.; Kholmurodov, Kh.T.

2005-01-01

We used molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the density and the temperature behaviour of a flexible polyethylene (PE) subjected to various heating conditions and to investigate the PE chain conformational changes in a water solvent. First, we have considered the influence of the heating process on the final state of the polymeric system and the sensitivity of its thermodynamic characteristics (density, energy, etc.) for different heating regimes. For this purpose three different simulations were performed: fast, moderate, and slow heating. Second, we have investigated the PE chain conformational dynamics in water solvent for various simulation conditions and various configurations of the environment. From the obtained results we have got the pictures of the PE dynamical motions in water. We have observed a protein-like behaviour of the PE chain, like that of the DNA and the proteins in water, and have also estimated the rates of the conformational changes. For the MD simulations we used the optimized general-purpose DL P OLY code and the generic DREIDING force field. The MD simulations were performed on the parallel computers and special-purpose MDGRAPE-2 machine

msiDBN: A Method of Identifying Critical Proteins in Dynamic PPI Networks

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Yuan Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Dynamics of protein-protein interactions (PPIs reveals the recondite principles of biological processes inside a cell. Shown in a wealth of study, just a small group of proteins, rather than the majority, play more essential roles at crucial points of biological processes. This present work focuses on identifying these critical proteins exhibiting dramatic structural changes in dynamic PPI networks. First, a comprehensive way of modeling the dynamic PPIs is presented which simultaneously analyzes the activity of proteins and assembles the dynamic coregulation correlation between proteins at each time point. Second, a novel method is proposed, named msiDBN, which models a common representation of multiple PPI networks using a deep belief network framework and analyzes the reconstruction errors and the variabilities across the time courses in the biological process. Experiments were implemented on data of yeast cell cycles. We evaluated our network construction method by comparing the functional representations of the derived networks with two other traditional construction methods. The ranking results of critical proteins in msiDBN were compared with the results from the baseline methods. The results of comparison showed that msiDBN had better reconstruction rate and identified more proteins of critical value to yeast cell cycle process.

Is a malleable protein necessarily highly dynamic?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjærgaard, Magnus; Poulsen, Flemming Martin; Teilum, Kaare

2012-01-01

core of NCBD in the ligand-free state and in a well-folded complex with the ligand activator for thyroid hormone and retinoid receptors using multiple NMR methods including methyl chemical shifts, coupling constants, and methyl order parameters. From all NMR measures, the aliphatic side chains...... in the hydrophobic core are slightly more dynamic in the free protein than in the complex, but have mobility comparable to the hydrophobic cores of average folded proteins. Urea titration monitored by NMR reveals that all parts of the protein, including the side-chain packing in the hydrophobic core, denatures...

Solution structure and dynamics of melanoma inhibitory activity protein

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lougheed, Julie C.; Domaille, Peter J.; Handel, Tracy M.

2002-01-01

Melanoma inhibitory activity (MIA) is a small secreted protein that is implicated in cartilage cell maintenance and melanoma metastasis. It is representative of a recently discovered family of proteins that contain a Src Homologous 3 (SH3) subdomain. While SH3 domains are normally found in intracellular proteins and mediate protein-protein interactions via recognition of polyproline helices, MIA is single-domain extracellular protein, and it probably binds to a different class of ligands.Here we report the assignments, solution structure, and dynamics of human MIA determined by heteronuclear NMR methods. The structures were calculated in a semi-automated manner without manual assignment of NOE crosspeaks, and have a backbone rmsd of 0.38 A over the ordered regions of the protein. The structure consists of an SH3-like subdomain with N- and C-terminal extensions of approximately 20 amino acids each that together form a novel fold. The rmsd between the solution structure and our recently reported crystal structure is 0.86 A over the ordered regions of the backbone, and the main differences are localized to the most dynamic regions of the protein. The similarity between the NMR and crystal structures supports the use of automated NOE assignments and ambiguous restraints to accelerate the calculation of NMR structures

Arabidopsis Regenerating Protoplast: A Powerful Model System for Combining the Proteomics of Cell Wall Proteins and the Visualization of Cell Wall Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Yokoyama, Ryusuke; Kuki, Hiroaki; Kuroha, Takeshi; Nishitani, Kazuhiko

2016-01-01

The development of a range of sub-proteomic approaches to the plant cell wall has identified many of the cell wall proteins. However, it remains difficult to elucidate the precise biological role of each protein and the cell wall dynamics driven by their actions. The plant protoplast provides an excellent means not only for characterizing cell wall proteins, but also for visualizing the dynamics of cell wall regeneration, during which cell wall proteins are secreted. It therefore offers a unique opportunity to investigate the de novo construction process of the cell wall. This review deals with sub-proteomic approaches to the plant cell wall through the use of protoplasts, a methodology that will provide the basis for further exploration of cell wall proteins and cell wall dynamics. PMID:28248244

Frontiers in Fluctuation Spectroscopy: Measuring protein dynamics and protein spatio-temporal connectivity

Science.gov (United States)

Digman, Michelle

Fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy has evolved from single point detection of molecular diffusion to a family of microscopy imaging correlation tools (i.e. ICS, RICS, STICS, and kICS) useful in deriving spatial-temporal dynamics of proteins in living cells The advantage of the imaging techniques is the simultaneous measurement of all points in an image with a frame rate that is increasingly becoming faster with better sensitivity cameras and new microscopy modalities such as the sheet illumination technique. A new frontier in this area is now emerging towards a high level of mapping diffusion rates and protein dynamics in the 2 and 3 dimensions. In this talk, I will discuss the evolution of fluctuation analysis from the single point source to mapping diffusion in whole cells and the technology behind this technique. In particular, new methods of analysis exploit correlation of molecular fluctuations originating from measurement of fluctuation correlations at distant points (pair correlation analysis) and methods that exploit spatial averaging of fluctuations in small regions (iMSD). For example the pair correlation fluctuation (pCF) analyses done between adjacent pixels in all possible radial directions provide a window into anisotropic molecular diffusion. Similar to the connectivity atlas of neuronal connections from the MRI diffusion tensor imaging these new tools will be used to map the connectome of protein diffusion in living cells. For biological reaction-diffusion systems, live single cell spatial-temporal analysis of protein dynamics provides a mean to observe stochastic biochemical signaling in the context of the intracellular environment which may lead to better understanding of cancer cell invasion, stem cell differentiation and other fundamental biological processes. National Institutes of Health Grant P41-RRO3155.

MOLECULAR DOCKING AND DYNAMICS STUDIES ON THE PROTEIN-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS OF ELECTRICALLY ACTIVE PILIN NANOWIRES OF GEOBACTER SULFURREDUCENS.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Jeya Sundara Sharmila1 *

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Molecular interactions are key aspects in biological recognitions applicable in nano/micro systems. Bacterial nanowires are pilus filament based structures that can conduct electrons. The transport of electron is proposed to be facilitated by filamentous fibers made up of polymeric assemblies of proteins called pilin. Geobacter sulfurreducens is capable of delivering electrons through extracellular electron transport (EET by employing conductive nanowires, which are pilin proteins composed of type IV subunit PilA. Protein-protein interactions play an important role in the stabilization of the pilin nanowire assembly complex and it contains transmembrane (TM domain. In current study, protein-protein docking and multiple molecular dynamic (MD simulations were performed to understand the binding mode of pilin nanowires. The MD result explains the conformational behavior and folding of pilin nanowires in water environment in different time scale duration 20, 5, 5, 10 and 20ns (total of 60ns. Direct hydrogen bonds and water mediated hydrogen bonds that play a crucial role during the simulation were investigated. The conformational state, folding, end-toend distance profile and hydrogen bonding behavior had indicated that the Geobacter sulfurreducens pilin nanowires have electrical conductivity properties.

Current Proteomic Methods to Investigate the Dynamics of Histone Turnover in the Central Nervous System.

Science.gov (United States)

Farrelly, L A; Dill, B D; Molina, H; Birtwistle, M R; Maze, I

2016-01-01

Characterizing the dynamic behavior of nucleosomes in the central nervous system is vital to our understanding of brain-specific chromatin-templated processes and their roles in transcriptional plasticity. Histone turnover-the complete loss of old, and replacement by new, nucleosomal histones-is one such phenomenon that has recently been shown to be critical for cell-type-specific transcription in brain, synaptic plasticity, and cognition. Such revelations that histones, long believed to static proteins in postmitotic cells, are highly dynamic in neurons were only possible owing to significant advances in analytical chemistry-based techniques, which now provide a platform for investigations of histone dynamics in both healthy and diseased tissues. Here, we discuss both past and present proteomic methods (eg, mass spectrometry, human "bomb pulse labeling") for investigating histone turnover in brain with the hope that such information may stimulate future investigations of both adaptive and aberrant forms of "neuroepigenetic" plasticity. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Real-Time G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Imaging to Understand and Quantify Receptor Dynamics

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María S. Aymerich

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Understanding the trafficking of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs and their regulation by agonists and antagonists is fundamental to develop more effective drugs. Optical methods using fluorescent-tagged receptors and spinning disk confocal microscopy are useful tools to investigate membrane receptor dynamics in living cells. The aim of this study was to develop a method to characterize receptor dynamics using this system which offers the advantage of very fast image acquisition with minimal cell perturbation. However, in short-term assays photobleaching was still a problem. Thus, we developed a procedure to perform a photobleaching-corrected image analysis. A study of short-term dynamics of the long isoform of the dopamine type 2 receptor revealed an agonist-induced increase in the mobile fraction of receptors with a rate of movement of 0.08 μm/s For long-term assays, the ratio between the relative fluorescence intensity at the cell surface versus that in the intracellular compartment indicated that receptor internalization only occurred in cells co-expressing G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2. These results indicate that the lateral movement of receptors and receptor internalization are not directly coupled. Thus, we believe that live imaging of GPCRs using spinning disk confocal image analysis constitutes a powerful tool to study of receptor dynamics.

MDcons: Intermolecular contact maps as a tool to analyze the interface of protein complexes from molecular dynamics trajectories

KAUST Repository

Abdel-Azeim, Safwat

2014-05-06

Background: Molecular Dynamics ( MD) simulations of protein complexes suffer from the lack of specific tools in the analysis step. Analyses of MD trajectories of protein complexes indeed generally rely on classical measures, such as the RMSD, RMSF and gyration radius, conceived and developed for single macromolecules. As a matter of fact, instead, researchers engaged in simulating the dynamics of a protein complex are mainly interested in characterizing the conservation/variation of its biological interface. Results: On these bases, herein we propose a novel approach to the analysis of MD trajectories or other conformational ensembles of protein complexes, MDcons, which uses the conservation of inter-residue contacts at the interface as a measure of the similarity between different snapshots. A "consensus contact map" is also provided, where the conservation of the different contacts is drawn in a grey scale. Finally, the interface area of the complex is monitored during the simulations. To show its utility, we used this novel approach to study two protein-protein complexes with interfaces of comparable size and both dominated by hydrophilic interactions, but having binding affinities at the extremes of the experimental range. MDcons is demonstrated to be extremely useful to analyse the MD trajectories of the investigated complexes, adding important insight into the dynamic behavior of their biological interface. Conclusions: MDcons specifically allows the user to highlight and characterize the dynamics of the interface in protein complexes and can thus be used as a complementary tool for the analysis of MD simulations of both experimental and predicted structures of protein complexes.

A comparison of techniques for calculating protein essential dynamics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Aalten, D.M.F.; de Groot, B.L.; Findlay, J.B.C.; Berendsen, H.J.C.; Amadei, A

1997-01-01

Recently the basic theory of essential dynamics, a method for extracting large concerted motions from protein molecular dynamics trajectories, was described. Here, we introduce and test new aspects. A method for diagonalizing large covariance matrices is presented. We show that it is possible to

GPI-anchored protein organization and dynamics at the cell surface.

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Suvrajit; Anilkumar, Anupama Ambika; Mayor, Satyajit

2016-02-01

The surface of eukaryotic cells is a multi-component fluid bilayer in which glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins are an abundant constituent. In this review, we discuss the complex nature of the organization and dynamics of GPI-anchored proteins at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Different biophysical techniques have been utilized for understanding this organization, including fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, single particle tracking, and a number of super resolution methods. Major insights into the organization and dynamics have also come from exploring the short-range interactions of GPI-anchored proteins by fluorescence (or Förster) resonance energy transfer microscopy. Based on the nanometer to micron scale organization, at the microsecond to the second time scale dynamics, a picture of the membrane bilayer emerges where the lipid bilayer appears inextricably intertwined with the underlying dynamic cytoskeleton. These observations have prompted a revision of the current models of plasma membrane organization, and suggest an active actin-membrane composite. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Contrasting the excited-state dynamics of the photoactive yellow protein chromophore: Protein versus solvent environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vengris, M.; Horst, M.A.; Zgrablic, G.; van Stokkum, I.H.M.; Haacke, S.; Chergui, M.; Hellingwerf, K.J.; van Grondelle, R.; Larsen, D.S.

2004-01-01

Wavelength- and time-resolved fluorescence experiments have been performed on the photoactive yellow protein, the E46Q mutant, the hybrids of these proteins containing a nonisomerizing "locked" chromophore, and the native and locked chromophores in aqueous solution. The ultrafast dynamics of these

Coevolving residues of (beta/alpha)(8)-barrel proteins play roles in stabilizing active site architecture and coordinating protein dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Hongbo; Xu, Feng; Hu, Hairong; Wang, Feifei; Wu, Qi; Huang, Qiang; Wang, Honghai

2008-12-01

Indole-3-glycerol phosphate synthase (IGPS) is a representative of (beta/alpha)(8)-barrel proteins-the most common enzyme fold in nature. To better understand how the constituent amino-acids work together to define the structure and to facilitate the function, we investigated the evolutionary and dynamical coupling of IGPS residues by combining statistical coupling analysis (SCA) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The coevolving residues identified by the SCA were found to form a network which encloses the active site completely. The MD simulations showed that these coevolving residues are involved in the correlated and anti-correlated motions. The correlated residues are within van der Waals contact and appear to maintain the active site architecture; the anti-correlated residues are mainly distributed on opposite sides of the catalytic cavity and coordinate the motions likely required for the substrate entry and product release. Our findings might have broad implications for proteins with the highly conserved (betaalpha)(8)-barrel in assessing the roles of amino-acids that are moderately conserved and not directly involved in the active site of the (beta/alpha)(8)-barrel. The results of this study could also provide useful information for further exploring the specific residue motions for the catalysis and protein design based on the (beta/alpha)(8)-barrel scaffold.

Molecular modeling of the conformational dynamics of the cellular prion protein

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Charles; Colling, Ian; Bartz, Jason; Soto, Patricia

2014-03-01

Prions are infectious agents responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), a type of fatal neurodegenerative disease in mammals. Prions propagate biological information by conversion of the non-pathological version of the prion protein to the infectious conformation, PrPSc. A wealth of knowledge has shed light on the nature and mechanism of prion protein conversion. In spite of the significance of this problem, we are far from fully understanding the conformational dynamics of the cellular isoform. To remedy this situation we employ multiple biomolecular modeling techniques such as docking and molecular dynamics simulations to map the free energy landscape and determine what specific regions of the prion protein are most conductive to binding. The overall goal is to characterize the conformational dynamics of the cell form of the prion protein, PrPc, to gain insight into inhibition pathways against misfolding. NE EPSCoR FIRST Award to Patricia Soto.

A Force Balanced Fragmentation Method for ab Initio Molecular Dynamic Simulation of Protein

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingyuan Xu

2018-05-01

Full Text Available A force balanced generalized molecular fractionation with conjugate caps (FB-GMFCC method is proposed for ab initio molecular dynamic simulation of proteins. In this approach, the energy of the protein is computed by a linear combination of the QM energies of individual residues and molecular fragments that account for the two-body interaction of hydrogen bond between backbone peptides. The atomic forces on the caped H atoms were corrected to conserve the total force of the protein. Using this approach, ab initio molecular dynamic simulation of an Ace-(ALA9-NME linear peptide showed the conservation of the total energy of the system throughout the simulation. Further a more robust 110 ps ab initio molecular dynamic simulation was performed for a protein with 56 residues and 862 atoms in explicit water. Compared with the classical force field, the ab initio molecular dynamic simulations gave better description of the geometry of peptide bonds. Although further development is still needed, the current approach is highly efficient, trivially parallel, and can be applied to ab initio molecular dynamic simulation study of large proteins.

DROIDS 1.20: A GUI-Based Pipeline for GPU-Accelerated Comparative Protein Dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Babbitt, Gregory A; Mortensen, Jamie S; Coppola, Erin E; Adams, Lily E; Liao, Justin K

2018-03-13

Traditional informatics in comparative genomics work only with static representations of biomolecules (i.e., sequence and structure), thereby ignoring the molecular dynamics (MD) of proteins that define function in the cell. A comparative approach applied to MD would connect this very short timescale process, defined in femtoseconds, to one of the longest in the universe: molecular evolution measured in millions of years. Here, we leverage advances in graphics-processing-unit-accelerated MD simulation software to develop a comparative method of MD analysis and visualization that can be applied to any two homologous Protein Data Bank structures. Our open-source pipeline, DROIDS (Detecting Relative Outlier Impacts in Dynamic Simulations), works in conjunction with existing molecular modeling software to convert any Linux gaming personal computer into a "comparative computational microscope" for observing the biophysical effects of mutations and other chemical changes in proteins. DROIDS implements structural alignment and Benjamini-Hochberg-corrected Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistics to compare nanosecond-scale atom bond fluctuations on the protein backbone, color mapping the significant differences identified in protein MD with single-amino-acid resolution. DROIDS is simple to use, incorporating graphical user interface control for Amber16 MD simulations, cpptraj analysis, and the final statistical and visual representations in R graphics and UCSF Chimera. We demonstrate that DROIDS can be utilized to visually investigate molecular evolution and disease-related functional changes in MD due to genetic mutation and epigenetic modification. DROIDS can also be used to potentially investigate binding interactions of pharmaceuticals, toxins, or other biomolecules in a functional evolutionary context as well. Copyright © 2018 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

New technique of identifying the hierarchy of dynamic domains in proteins using a method of molecular dynamics simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yesylevskyy S. O.

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Aim. Despite a large number of existing domain identification techniques there is no universally accepted method, which identifies the hierarchy of dynamic domains using the data of molecular dynamics (MD simulations. The goal of this work is to develop such technique. Methods. The dynamic domains are identified by eliminating systematic motions from MD trajectories recursively in a model-free manner. Results. The technique called the Hierarchical Domain-Wise Alignment (HDWA to identify hierarchically organized dynamic domains in proteins using the MD trajectories has been developed. Conclusion. A new method of domain identification in proteins is proposed

Molecular Dynamics Investigation of Cl− and Water Transport through a Eukaryotic CLC Transporter

OpenAIRE

Cheng, Mary Hongying; Coalson, Rob D.

2012-01-01

Early crystal structures of prokaryotic CLC proteins identified three Cl– binding sites: internal (Sint), central (Scen), and external (Sext). A conserved external GLU (GLUex) residue acts as a gate competing for Sext. Recently, the first crystal structure of a eukaryotic transporter, CmCLC, revealed that in this transporter GLUex competes instead for Scen. Here, we use molecular dynamics simulations to investigate Cl– transport through CmCLC. The gating and Cl–/H+ transport cycle are inferre...

Dynamic gastric digestion of a commercial whey protein concentrate†.

Science.gov (United States)

Miralles, Beatriz; Del Barrio, Roberto; Cueva, Carolina; Recio, Isidra; Amigo, Lourdes

2018-03-01

A dynamic gastrointestinal simulator, simgi ® , has been applied to assess the gastric digestion of a whey protein concentrate. Samples collected from the outlet of the stomach have been compared to those resulting from the static digestion protocol INFOGEST developed on the basis of physiologically inferred conditions. Progress of digestion was followed by SDS-PAGE and LC-MS/MS. By SDS-PAGE, serum albumin and α-lactalbumin were no longer detectable at 30 and 60 min, respectively. On the contrary, β-lactoglobulin was visible up to 120 min, although in decreasing concentrations in the dynamic model due to the gastric emptying and the addition of gastric fluids. Moreover, β-lactoglobulin was partly hydrolysed by pepsin probably due to the presence of heat-denatured forms and the peptides released using both digestion models were similar. Under dynamic conditions, a stepwise increase in number of peptides over time was observed, while the static protocol generated a high number of peptides from the beginning of digestion. Whey protein digestion products using a dynamic stomach are consistent with those generated with the static protocol but the kinetic behaviour of the peptide profile emphasises the effect of the sequential pepsin addition, peristaltic shaking, and gastric emptying on protein digestibility. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Collective dynamics of protein hydration water by brillouin neutron spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Orecchini, Andrea; Paciaroni, Alessandro; De Francesco, Alessio; Petrillo, Caterina; Sacchetti, Francesco

2009-04-08

By a detailed experimental study of THz dynamics in the ribonuclease protein, we could detect the propagation of coherent collective density fluctuations within the protein hydration shell. The emerging picture indicates the presence of both a dispersing mode, traveling with a speed greater than 3000 m/s, and a nondispersing one, characterized by an almost constant energy of 6-7 meV. In agreement with molecular dynamics simulations [Phys. Rev. Lett. 2002, 89, 275501], the features of the dispersion curves closely resemble those observed in pure liquid water [Phys. Rev. E: Stat. Phys., Plasmas, Fluids, Relat. Interdiscip. Top. 2004, 69, 061203]. On the contrary, the observed damping factors are much larger than in bulk water, with the dispersing mode becoming overdamped at Q = 0.6 A(-1) already. Such novel experimental findings are discussed as a dynamic signature of the disordering effect induced by the protein surface on the local structure of water.

Dynamic and bio-orthogonal protein assembly along a supramolecular polymer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Petkau - Milroy, K.; Uhlenheuer, D.A.; Spiering, A.J.H.; Vekemans, J.A.J.M.; Brunsveld, L.

2013-01-01

Dynamic protein assembly along supramolecular columnar polymers has been achieved through the site-specific covalent attachment of different SNAP-tag fusion proteins to self-assembled benzylguanine-decorated discotics. The self-assembly of monovalent discotics into supramolecular polymers creates a

Investigation of sliding DNA clamp dynamics by single-molecule fluorescence, mass spectrometry and structure-based modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Gadkari, Varun V; Harvey, Sophie R; Raper, Austin T; Chu, Wen-Ting; Wang, Jin; Wysocki, Vicki H; Suo, Zucai

2018-01-01

Abstract Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is a trimeric ring-shaped clamp protein that encircles DNA and interacts with many proteins involved in DNA replication and repair. Despite extensive structural work to characterize the monomeric, dimeric, and trimeric forms of PCNA alone and in complex with interacting proteins, no structure of PCNA in a ring-open conformation has been published. Here, we use a multidisciplinary approach, including single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET), native ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS), and structure-based computational modeling, to explore the conformational dynamics of a model PCNA from Sulfolobus solfataricus (Sso), an archaeon. We found that Sso PCNA samples ring-open and ring-closed conformations even in the absence of its clamp loader complex, replication factor C, and transition to the ring-open conformation is modulated by the ionic strength of the solution. The IM-MS results corroborate the smFRET findings suggesting that PCNA dynamics are maintained in the gas phase and further establishing IM-MS as a reliable strategy to investigate macromolecular motions. Our molecular dynamic simulations agree with the experimental data and reveal that ring-open PCNA often adopts an out-of-plane left-hand geometry. Collectively, these results implore future studies to define the roles of PCNA dynamics in DNA loading and other PCNA-mediated interactions. PMID:29529283

Multistage modeling of protein dynamics with monomeric Myc oncoprotein as an example.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jiaojiao; Dai, Jin; He, Jianfeng; Niemi, Antti J; Ilieva, Nevena

2017-03-01

We propose to combine a mean-field approach with all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) into a multistage algorithm that can model protein folding and dynamics over very long time periods yet with atomic-level precision. As an example, we investigate an isolated monomeric Myc oncoprotein that has been implicated in carcinomas including those in colon, breast, and lungs. Under physiological conditions a monomeric Myc is presumed to be an example of intrinsically disordered proteins that pose a serious challenge to existing modeling techniques. We argue that a room-temperature monomeric Myc is in a dynamical state, it oscillates between different conformations that we identify. For this we adopt the Cα backbone of Myc in a crystallographic heteromer as an initial ansatz for the monomeric structure. We construct a multisoliton of the pertinent Landau free energy to describe the Cα profile with ultrahigh precision. We use Glauber dynamics to resolve how the multisoliton responds to repeated increases and decreases in ambient temperature. We confirm that the initial structure is unstable in isolation. We reveal a highly degenerate ground-state landscape, an attractive set towards which Glauber dynamics converges in the limit of vanishing ambient temperature. We analyze the thermal stability of this Glauber attractor using room-temperature molecular dynamics. We identify and scrutinize a particularly stable subset in which the two helical segments of the original multisoliton align in parallel next to each other. During the MD time evolution of a representative structure from this subset, we observe intermittent quasiparticle oscillations along the C-terminal α helix, some of which resemble a translating Davydov's Amide-I soliton. We propose that the presence of oscillatory motion is in line with the expected intrinsically disordered character of Myc.

Dynamic functional modules in co-expressed protein interaction networks of dilated cardiomyopathy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oyang Yen-Jen

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Molecular networks represent the backbone of molecular activity within cells and provide opportunities for understanding the mechanism of diseases. While protein-protein interaction data constitute static network maps, integration of condition-specific co-expression information provides clues to the dynamic features of these networks. Dilated cardiomyopathy is a leading cause of heart failure. Although previous studies have identified putative biomarkers or therapeutic targets for heart failure, the underlying molecular mechanism of dilated cardiomyopathy remains unclear. Results We developed a network-based comparative analysis approach that integrates protein-protein interactions with gene expression profiles and biological function annotations to reveal dynamic functional modules under different biological states. We found that hub proteins in condition-specific co-expressed protein interaction networks tended to be differentially expressed between biological states. Applying this method to a cohort of heart failure patients, we identified two functional modules that significantly emerged from the interaction networks. The dynamics of these modules between normal and disease states further suggest a potential molecular model of dilated cardiomyopathy. Conclusions We propose a novel framework to analyze the interaction networks in different biological states. It successfully reveals network modules closely related to heart failure; more importantly, these network dynamics provide new insights into the cause of dilated cardiomyopathy. The revealed molecular modules might be used as potential drug targets and provide new directions for heart failure therapy.

A dynamics investigation into edge plasma turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomsen, H.

2002-08-01

The present experimental work investigates plasma turbulence in the edge region of magnetized high-temperature plasmas. A main topic is the turbulent dynamics parallel to the magnetic field, where hitherto only a small data basis existed, especially for very long scale lengths in the order of ten of meters. A second point of special interest is the coupling of the dynamics parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field. This anisotropic turbulent dynamics is investigated by two different approaches. Firstly, spatially and temporally high-resolution measurements of fluctuating plasma parameters are investigated by means of two-point correlation analysis. Secondly, the propagation of signals externally imposed into the turbulent plasma background is studied. For both approaches, Langmuir probe arrays were utilized for diagnostic purposes. (orig.)

Change of conformation and internal dynamics of supercoiled DNA upon binding of Escherichia coli single-strand binding protein

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langowski, J.; Benight, A.S.; Fujimoto, B.S.; Schurr, J.M.; Schomburg, U.

1985-01-01

The influence of Escherichia coli single-strand binding (SSB) protein on the conformation and internal dynamics of pBR322 and pUC8 supercoiled DNAs has been investigated by using dynamic light scattering at 632.8 and 351.1 nm and time-resolved fluorescence polarization anisotropy of intercalated ethidium. SSB protein binds to both DNAs up to a stoichiometry that is sufficient to almost completely relax the superhelical turns. Upon saturation binding, the translational diffusion coefficients (D 0 ) of both DNAs decrease by approximately 20%. Apparent diffusion coefficients (D/sub app/) obtained from dynamic light scattering display the well-known increase with K 2 (K = scattering vector), leveling off toward a plateau value (D/sub plat/) at high K 2 . For both DNAs, the difference D/sub plat/ - D 0 increases upon relaxation of supercoils by SSB protein, which indicates a corresponding enhancement of the subunit mobilities in internal motions. Fluorescence polarization anisotropy measurements on free and complexed pBR322 DNA indicate a (predominantly) uniform torsional rigidity for the saturated DNA/SSB protein complex that is significantly reduced compared to the free DNA. These observations are all consistent with the notion that binding of SSB protein is accompanied by a gradual loss of supercoils and saturates when the superhelical twist is largely removed

Role of protein dynamics in transmembrane receptor signalling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Yong; Bugge, Katrine Østergaard; Kragelund, Birthe Brandt

2018-01-01

Cells are dependent on transmembrane receptors to communicate and transform chemical and physical signals into intracellular responses. Because receptors transport 'information', conformational changes and protein dynamics play a key mechanistic role. We here review examples where experiment...... to function. Because the receptors function in a heterogeneous environment and need to be able to switch between distinct functional states, they may be particularly sensitive to small perturbations that complicate studies linking dynamics to function....

Synthetic multicellular oscillatory systems: controlling protein dynamics with genetic circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koseska, Aneta; Volkov, Evgenii; Kurths, Juergen

2011-01-01

Synthetic biology is a relatively new research discipline that combines standard biology approaches with the constructive nature of engineering. Thus, recent efforts in the field of synthetic biology have given a perspective to consider cells as 'programmable matter'. Here, we address the possibility of using synthetic circuits to control protein dynamics. In particular, we show how intercellular communication and stochasticity can be used to manipulate the dynamical behavior of a population of coupled synthetic units and, in this manner, finely tune the expression of specific proteins of interest, e.g. in large bioreactors.

Dynamic proteome profiling of individual proteins in human skeletal muscle after a high-fat diet and resistance exercise.

Science.gov (United States)

Camera, Donny M; Burniston, Jatin G; Pogson, Mark A; Smiles, William J; Hawley, John A

2017-12-01

It is generally accepted that muscle adaptation to resistance exercise (REX) training is underpinned by contraction-induced, increased rates of protein synthesis and dietary protein availability. By using dynamic proteome profiling (DPP), we investigated the contribution of both synthesis and breakdown to changes in abundance on a protein-by-protein basis in human skeletal muscle. Age-matched, overweight males consumed 9 d of a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet during which time they either undertook 3 sessions of REX or performed no exercise. Precursor enrichment and the rate of incorporation of deuterium oxide into newly synthesized muscle proteins were determined by mass spectrometry. Ninety proteins were included in the DPP, with 28 proteins exhibiting significant responses to REX. The most common pattern of response was an increase in turnover, followed by an increase in abundance with no detectable increase in protein synthesis. Here, we provide novel evidence that demonstrates that the contribution of synthesis and breakdown to changes in protein abundance induced by REX differ on a protein-by-protein basis. We also highlight the importance of the degradation of individual muscle proteins after exercise in human skeletal muscle.-Camera, D. M., Burniston, J. G., Pogson, M. A., Smiles, W. J., Hawley, J. A. Dynamic proteome profiling of individual proteins in human skeletal muscle after a high-fat diet and resistance exercise. © FASEB.

Dynamic nuclear polarization of membrane proteins: covalently bound spin-labels at protein–protein interfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wylie, Benjamin J.; Dzikovski, Boris G.; Pawsey, Shane; Caporini, Marc; Rosay, Melanie; Freed, Jack H.; McDermott, Ann E.

2015-01-01

We demonstrate that dynamic nuclear polarization of membrane proteins in lipid bilayers may be achieved using a novel polarizing agent: pairs of spin labels covalently bound to a protein of interest interacting at an intermolecular interaction surface. For gramicidin A, nitroxide tags attached to the N-terminal intermolecular interface region become proximal only when bimolecular channels forms in the membrane. We obtained signal enhancements of sixfold for the dimeric protein. The enhancement effect was comparable to that of a doubly tagged sample of gramicidin C, with intramolecular spin pairs. This approach could be a powerful and selective means for signal enhancement in membrane proteins, and for recognizing intermolecular interfaces

Identification of hierarchy of dynamic domains in proteins: comparison of HDWA and HCCP techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yesylevskyy S. O.

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Aim. There are several techniques for the identification of hierarchy of dynamic domains in proteins. The goal of this work is to compare systematically two recently developed techniques, HCCP and HDWA,on a set of proteins from diverse structural classes. Methods. HDWA and HCCP techniques are used. The HDWA technique is designed to identify hierarchically organized dynamic domains in proteins using the Molecular Dynamics (MD trajectories, while HCCP utilizes the normal modes of simplified elastic network models. Results. It is shown that the dynamic domains found by HDWA are consistent with the domains identified by HCCP and other techniques. At the same time HDWA identifies flexible mobile loops of proteins correctly, which is hard to achieve with other model-based domain identification techniques. Conclusion. HDWA is shown to be a powerful method of analysis of MD trajectories, which can be used in various areas of protein science.

Impact of transamination reactions and protein turnover on labeling dynamics in C-13-labeling experiments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grotkjær, Thomas; Åkesson, M.; Christensen, Bjarke

2004-01-01

A dynamic model describing carbon atom transitions in the central metabolism of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used to investigate the influence of transamination reactions and protein turnover on the transient behavior of C-13-labeling chemostat experiments. The simulations performed suggest...... that carbon exchange due to transamination and protein turnover can significantly increase the required time needed for metabolites in the TCA cycle to reach isotopic steady state, which is in agreement with published experimental observations. On the other hand, transamination and protein turnover will speed...... behavior until after three residence times. These observations suggest that greater caution should be used while also pointing to new opportunities in the design and interpretation of C-13-labeling experiments....

Effects of solvent concentration and composition on protein dynamics: 13C MAS NMR studies of elastin in glycerol-water mixtures.

Science.gov (United States)

Demuth, Dominik; Haase, Nils; Malzacher, Daniel; Vogel, Michael

2015-08-01

We use (13)C CP MAS NMR to investigate the dependence of elastin dynamics on the concentration and composition of the solvent at various temperatures. For elastin in pure glycerol, line-shape analysis shows that larger-scale fluctuations of the protein backbone require a minimum glycerol concentration of ~0.6 g/g at ambient temperature, while smaller-scale fluctuations are activated at lower solvation levels of ~0.2 g/g. Immersing elastin in various glycerol-water mixtures, we observe at room temperature that the protein mobility is higher for lower glycerol fractions in the solvent and, thus, lower solvent viscosity. When decreasing the temperature, the elastin spectra approach the line shape for the rigid protein at 245 K for all studied samples, indicating that the protein ceases to be mobile on the experimental time scale of ~10(-5) s. Our findings yield evidence for a strong coupling between elastin fluctuations and solvent dynamics and, hence, such interaction is not restricted to the case of protein-water mixtures. Spectral resolution of different carbon species reveals that the protein-solvent couplings can, however, be different for side chain and backbone units. We discuss these results against the background of the slaving model for protein dynamics. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Measuring protein dynamics with ultrafast two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adamczyk, Katrin; Candelaresi, Marco; Hunt, Neil T; Robb, Kirsty; Hoskisson, Paul A; Tucker, Nicholas P; Gumiero, Andrea; Walsh, Martin A; Parker, Anthony W

2012-01-01

Recent advances in the methodology and application of ultrafast two-dimensional infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy to biomolecular systems are reviewed. A description of the 2D-IR technique and the molecular contributions to the observed spectra are presented followed by a discussion of recent literature relating to the use of 2D-IR and associated approaches for measuring protein dynamics. In particular, these include the use of diatomic ligand groups for measuring haem protein dynamics, isotopic labelling strategies and the use of vibrational probe groups. The final section reports on the current state of the art regarding the use of 2D-IR methods to provide insights into biological reaction mechanisms. (topical review)

Experimental investigation of interactions between proteins and carbon nanomaterials

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Sengupta, Bishwambhar

The global market for nanomaterials based products is forecasted to reach $1 trillion per annum per annum for 2015. Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) exhibit unique physicochemical properties with potential to impact diverse aspects of society through applications in electronics, renewable energy, and medicine. While the research and proposed applications of ENMs continue to grow rapidly, the health and safety of ENMs still remains a major concern to the public as well as to policy makers and funding agencies. It is now widely accepted that focused efforts are needed for identifying the list of physicochemical descriptors of ENM before they can be evaluated for nanotoxicity and biological response. This task is surprisingly challenging, as many physicochemical properties of ENMs are closely inter related and cannot be varied independently (e.g. increasing the size of an ENM can introduce additional defects). For example, varying toxic response may ensue due to different methods of nanomaterial preparation, dissimilar impurities and defects. Furthermore, the inadvertent coating of proteins on ENM surface in any biological milieu results in the formation of the so-called "protein/bio-corona" which can in turn alter the fate of ENMs and their biological response. Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, and graphene oxide are widely used ENMs. It is now known that defects in CNMs play an important role not only in materials properties but also in the determination of how materials interact at the nano-bio interface. In this regard, this work investigates the influence of defect-induced hydrophilicity on the bio-corona formation using micro Raman, photoluminescence, infrared spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and molecular dynamics simulations. Our results show that the interaction of proteins (albumin and fibrinogen) with CNMs is strongly influenced by charge transfer between them, inducing protein unfolding which enhances conformational entropy and

Systematic Protein-Protein Docking and Molecular Dynamics Studies of HIV-1 gp120 and CD4: Insights for New Drug Development

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M. Rizman-Idid

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Background and the purpose of the study: The interactions between HIV-1 gp120 and mutated CD4 proteins were investigated in order to identify a lead structure for therapy based on competitive blocking of the HIV binding receptor for human T-cells. Crystal structures of HIV gp120-CD4 complexes reveal a close interaction of the virus receptor with CD4 Phe43, which is embedded in a pocket of the virus protein.Methods: This study applies computer simulations to determine the best binding of amino acid 43 CD4 mutants to HIV gp120. Besides natural CD4, three mutants carrying alternate aromatic residues His, Trp and Tyr at position 43 were investigated. Several docking programs were applied on isolated proteins based on selected crystal structures of gp120-CD4 complexes, as well as a 5 ns molecular dynamics study on the protein complexes. The initial structures were minimized in Gromacs to avoid crystal packing effects, and then subjected to docking experiments using AutoDock4, FireDock, ClusPro and ZDock. In molecular dynamics, the Gibbs free binding energy was calculated for the gp120-CD4 complexes. The docking outputs were analyzed on energy within the respective docking software.Results and conclusion: Visualization and hydrogen bonding analysis were performed using the Swiss-PdbViewer. Strong binding to HIV gp120 can be achieved with an extended aromatic group (Trp. However, the sterical demand of the interaction affects the binding kinetics. In conclusion, a ligand for an efficient blocking of HIV gp120 should involve an extended but conformational flexible aromatic group, i.e. a biphenyl. A docking study on biphenylalanine-43 confirms this expectation

Application of Solution NMR Spectroscopy to Study Protein Dynamics

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Christoph Göbl

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Recent advances in spectroscopic methods allow the identification of minute fluctuations in a protein structure. These dynamic properties have been identified as keys to some biological processes. The consequences of this structural flexibility can be far‑reaching and they add a new dimension to the structure-function relationship of biomolecules. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR spectroscopy allows the study of structure as well as dynamics of biomolecules in a very broad range of timescales at atomic level. A number of new NMR methods have been developed recently to allow the measurements of time scales and spatial fluctuations, which in turn provide the thermodynamics associated with the biological processes. Since NMR parameters reflect ensemble measurements, structural ensemble approaches in analyzing NMR data have also been developed. These new methods in some instances can even highlight previously hidden conformational features of the biomolecules. In this review we describe several solution NMR methods to study protein dynamics and discuss their impact on important biological processes.

Microsecond molecular dynamics simulations of intrinsically disordered proteins involved in the oxidative stress response.

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Elio A Cino

Full Text Available Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs are abundant in cells and have central roles in protein-protein interaction networks. Interactions between the IDP Prothymosin alpha (ProTα and the Neh2 domain of Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2, with a common binding partner, Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1(Keap1, are essential for regulating cellular response to oxidative stress. Misregulation of this pathway can lead to neurodegenerative diseases, premature aging and cancer. In order to understand the mechanisms these two disordered proteins employ to bind to Keap1, we performed extensive 0.5-1.0 microsecond atomistic molecular dynamics (MD simulations and isothermal titration calorimetry experiments to investigate the structure/dynamics of free-state ProTα and Neh2 and their thermodynamics of bindings. The results show that in their free states, both ProTα and Neh2 have propensities to form bound-state-like β-turn structures but to different extents. We also found that, for both proteins, residues outside the Keap1-binding motifs may play important roles in stabilizing the bound-state-like structures. Based on our findings, we propose that the binding of disordered ProTα and Neh2 to Keap1 occurs synergistically via preformed structural elements (PSEs and coupled folding and binding, with a heavy bias towards PSEs, particularly for Neh2. Our results provide insights into the molecular mechanisms Neh2 and ProTα bind to Keap1, information that is useful for developing therapeutics to enhance the oxidative stress response.

Variable-angle epifluorescence microscopy characterizes protein dynamics in the vicinity of plasma membrane in plant cells.

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Chen, Tong; Ji, Dongchao; Tian, Shiping

2018-03-14

The assembly of protein complexes and compositional lipid patterning act together to endow cells with the plasticity required to maintain compositional heterogeneity with respect to individual proteins. Hence, the applications for imaging protein localization and dynamics require high accuracy, particularly at high spatio-temporal level. We provided experimental data for the applications of Variable-Angle Epifluorescence Microscopy (VAEM) in dissecting protein dynamics in plant cells. The VAEM-based co-localization analysis took penetration depth and incident angle into consideration. Besides direct overlap of dual-color fluorescence signals, the co-localization analysis was carried out quantitatively in combination with the methodology for calculating puncta distance and protein proximity index. Besides, simultaneous VAEM tracking of cytoskeletal dynamics provided more insights into coordinated responses of actin filaments and microtubules. Moreover, lateral motility of membrane proteins was analyzed by calculating diffusion coefficients and kymograph analysis, which represented an alternative method for examining protein motility. The present study presented experimental evidence on illustrating the use of VAEM in tracking and dissecting protein dynamics, dissecting endosomal dynamics, cell structure assembly along with membrane microdomain and protein motility in intact plant cells.

Dynamic prestress in a globular protein.

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Scott A Edwards

Full Text Available A protein at equilibrium is commonly thought of as a fully relaxed structure, with the intra-molecular interactions showing fluctuations around their energy minimum. In contrast, here we find direct evidence for a protein as a molecular tensegrity structure, comprising a balance of tensed and compressed interactions, a concept that has been put forward for macroscopic structures. We quantified the distribution of inter-residue prestress in ubiquitin and immunoglobulin from all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. The network of highly fluctuating yet significant inter-residue forces in proteins is a consequence of the intrinsic frustration of a protein when sampling its rugged energy landscape. In beta sheets, this balance of forces is found to compress the intra-strand hydrogen bonds. We estimate that the observed magnitude of this pre-compression is enough to induce significant changes in the hydrogen bond lifetimes; thus, prestress, which can be as high as a few 100 pN, can be considered a key factor in determining the unfolding kinetics and pathway of proteins under force. Strong pre-tension in certain salt bridges on the other hand is connected to the thermodynamic stability of ubiquitin. Effective force profiles between some side-chains reveal the signature of multiple, distinct conformational states, and such static disorder could be one factor explaining the growing body of experiments revealing non-exponential unfolding kinetics of proteins. The design of prestress distributions in engineering proteins promises to be a new tool for tailoring the mechanical properties of made-to-order nanomaterials.

Comparison of SH3 and SH2 domain dynamics when expressed alone or in an SH(3+2) construct: the role of protein dynamics in functional regulation.

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Engen, J R; Smithgall, T E; Gmeiner, W H; Smith, D L

1999-04-02

Protein dynamics play an important role in protein function and regulation of enzymatic activity. To determine how additional interactions with surrounding structure affects local protein dynamics, we have used hydrogen exchange and mass spectrometry to investigate the SH2 and SH3 domains of the protein tyrosine kinase Hck. Exchange rates of isolated Hck SH3 and SH2 domains were compared with rates for the same domains when part of a larger SH(3+2) construct. Increased deuterium incorporation was observed for the SH3 domain in the joint construct, particularly near the SH2 interface and the short sequence that connects SH3 to SH2, implying greater flexibility of SH3 when it is part of SH(3+2). Slow cooperative unfolding of the SH3 domain occurred at the same rate in isolated SH3 as in the SH(3+2) construct, suggesting a functional significance for this unfolding. The SH2 domain displayed relatively smaller changes in flexibility when part of the SH(3+2) construct. These results suggest that the domains influence each other. Further, our results imply a link between functional regulation and structural dynamics of SH3 and SH2 domains. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Distance-Based Configurational Entropy of Proteins from Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

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Fogolari, Federico; Corazza, Alessandra; Fortuna, Sara; Soler, Miguel Angel; VanSchouwen, Bryan; Brancolini, Giorgia; Corni, Stefano; Melacini, Giuseppe; Esposito, Gennaro

2015-01-01

Estimation of configurational entropy from molecular dynamics trajectories is a difficult task which is often performed using quasi-harmonic or histogram analysis. An entirely different approach, proposed recently, estimates local density distribution around each conformational sample by measuring the distance from its nearest neighbors. In this work we show this theoretically well grounded the method can be easily applied to estimate the entropy from conformational sampling. We consider a set of systems that are representative of important biomolecular processes. In particular: reference entropies for amino acids in unfolded proteins are obtained from a database of residues not participating in secondary structure elements;the conformational entropy of folding of β2-microglobulin is computed from molecular dynamics simulations using reference entropies for the unfolded state;backbone conformational entropy is computed from molecular dynamics simulations of four different states of the EPAC protein and compared with order parameters (often used as a measure of entropy);the conformational and rototranslational entropy of binding is computed from simulations of 20 tripeptides bound to the peptide binding protein OppA and of β2-microglobulin bound to a citrate coated gold surface. This work shows the potential of the method in the most representative biological processes involving proteins, and provides a valuable alternative, principally in the shown cases, where other approaches are problematic.

Protein Charge and Mass Contribute to the Spatio-temporal Dynamics of Protein-Protein Interactions in a Minimal Proteome

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Xu, Yu; Wang, Hong; Nussinov, Ruth; Ma, Buyong

2013-01-01

We constructed and simulated a ‘minimal proteome’ model using Langevin dynamics. It contains 206 essential protein types which were compiled from the literature. For comparison, we generated six proteomes with randomized concentrations. We found that the net charges and molecular weights of the proteins in the minimal genome are not random. The net charge of a protein decreases linearly with molecular weight, with small proteins being mostly positively charged and large proteins negatively charged. The protein copy numbers in the minimal genome have the tendency to maximize the number of protein-protein interactions in the network. Negatively charged proteins which tend to have larger sizes can provide large collision cross-section allowing them to interact with other proteins; on the other hand, the smaller positively charged proteins could have higher diffusion speed and are more likely to collide with other proteins. Proteomes with random charge/mass populations form less stable clusters than those with experimental protein copy numbers. Our study suggests that ‘proper’ populations of negatively and positively charged proteins are important for maintaining a protein-protein interaction network in a proteome. It is interesting to note that the minimal genome model based on the charge and mass of E. Coli may have a larger protein-protein interaction network than that based on the lower organism M. pneumoniae. PMID:23420643

Structural aspects of the solvation shell of lysine and acetylated lysine: A Car-Parrinello and classical molecular dynamics investigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carnevale, V.; Raugei, S.

2009-01-01

Lysine acetylation is a post-translational modification, which modulates the affinity of protein-protein and/or protein-DNA complexes. Its crucial role as a switch in signaling pathways highlights the relevance of charged chemical groups in determining the interactions between water and biomolecules. A great effort has been recently devoted to assess the reliability of classical molecular dynamics simulations in describing the solvation properties of charged moieties. In the spirit of these investigations, we performed classical and Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations on lysine and acetylated-lysine in aqueous solution. A comparative analysis between the two computational schemes is presented with a focus on the first solvation shell of the charged groups. An accurate structural analysis unveils subtle, yet statistically significant, differences which are discussed in connection to the significant electronic density charge transfer occurring between the solute and the surrounding water molecules.

Lipid Regulated Intramolecular Conformational Dynamics of SNARE-Protein Ykt6

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Dai, Yawei; Seeger, Markus; Weng, Jingwei; Song, Song; Wang, Wenning; Tan, Yan-Wen

2016-08-01

Cellular informational and metabolic processes are propagated with specific membrane fusions governed by soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNARE). SNARE protein Ykt6 is highly expressed in brain neurons and plays a critical role in the membrane-trafficking process. Studies suggested that Ykt6 undergoes a conformational change at the interface between its longin domain and the SNARE core. In this work, we study the conformational state distributions and dynamics of rat Ykt6 by means of single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (smFRET) and Fluorescence Cross-Correlation Spectroscopy (FCCS). We observed that intramolecular conformational dynamics between longin domain and SNARE core occurred at the timescale ~200 μs. Furthermore, this dynamics can be regulated and even eliminated by the presence of lipid dodecylphoshpocholine (DPC). Our molecular dynamic (MD) simulations have shown that, the SNARE core exhibits a flexible structure while the longin domain retains relatively stable in apo state. Combining single molecule experiments and theoretical MD simulations, we are the first to provide a quantitative dynamics of Ykt6 and explain the functional conformational change from a qualitative point of view.

Ligand-Induced Dynamics of Neurotrophin Receptors Investigated by Single-Molecule Imaging Approaches

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Marchetti, Laura; Luin, Stefano; Bonsignore, Fulvio; de Nadai, Teresa; Beltram, Fabio; Cattaneo, Antonino

2015-01-01

Neurotrophins are secreted proteins that regulate neuronal development and survival, as well as maintenance and plasticity of the adult nervous system. The biological activity of neurotrophins stems from their binding to two membrane receptor types, the tropomyosin receptor kinase and the p75 neurotrophin receptors (NRs). The intracellular signalling cascades thereby activated have been extensively investigated. Nevertheless, a comprehensive description of the ligand-induced nanoscale details of NRs dynamics and interactions spanning from the initial lateral movements triggered at the plasma membrane to the internalization and transport processes is still missing. Recent advances in high spatio-temporal resolution imaging techniques have yielded new insight on the dynamics of NRs upon ligand binding. Here we discuss requirements, potential and practical implementation of these novel approaches for the study of neurotrophin trafficking and signalling, in the framework of current knowledge available also for other ligand-receptor systems. We shall especially highlight the correlation between the receptor dynamics activated by different neurotrophins and the respective signalling outcome, as recently revealed by single-molecule tracking of NRs in living neuronal cells. PMID:25603178

Validation of Molecular Dynamics Simulations for Prediction of Three-Dimensional Structures of Small Proteins.

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Kato, Koichi; Nakayoshi, Tomoki; Fukuyoshi, Shuichi; Kurimoto, Eiji; Oda, Akifumi

2017-10-12

Although various higher-order protein structure prediction methods have been developed, almost all of them were developed based on the three-dimensional (3D) structure information of known proteins. Here we predicted the short protein structures by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in which only Newton's equations of motion were used and 3D structural information of known proteins was not required. To evaluate the ability of MD simulationto predict protein structures, we calculated seven short test protein (10-46 residues) in the denatured state and compared their predicted and experimental structures. The predicted structure for Trp-cage (20 residues) was close to the experimental structure by 200-ns MD simulation. For proteins shorter or longer than Trp-cage, root-mean square deviation values were larger than those for Trp-cage. However, secondary structures could be reproduced by MD simulations for proteins with 10-34 residues. Simulations by replica exchange MD were performed, but the results were similar to those from normal MD simulations. These results suggest that normal MD simulations can roughly predict short protein structures and 200-ns simulations are frequently sufficient for estimating the secondary structures of protein (approximately 20 residues). Structural prediction method using only fundamental physical laws are useful for investigating non-natural proteins, such as primitive proteins and artificial proteins for peptide-based drug delivery systems.

Shedding Light on Protein Folding, Structural and Functional Dynamics by Single Molecule Studies

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Krutika Bavishi

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The advent of advanced single molecule measurements unveiled a great wealth of dynamic information revolutionizing our understanding of protein dynamics and behavior in ways unattainable by conventional bulk assays. Equipped with the ability to record distribution of behaviors rather than the mean property of a population, single molecule measurements offer observation and quantification of the abundance, lifetime and function of multiple protein states. They also permit the direct observation of the transient and rarely populated intermediates in the energy landscape that are typically averaged out in non-synchronized ensemble measurements. Single molecule studies have thus provided novel insights about how the dynamic sampling of the free energy landscape dictates all aspects of protein behavior; from its folding to function. Here we will survey some of the state of the art contributions in deciphering mechanisms that underlie protein folding, structural and functional dynamics by single molecule fluorescence microscopy techniques. We will discuss a few selected examples highlighting the power of the emerging techniques and finally discuss the future improvements and directions.

Protein Dynamics in the Plant Extracellular Space

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Leonor Guerra-Guimarães

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The extracellular space (ECS or apoplast is the plant cell compartment external to the plasma membrane, which includes the cell walls, the intercellular space and the apoplastic fluid (APF. The present review is focused on APF proteomics papers and intends to draw information on the metabolic processes occurring in the ECS under abiotic and biotic stresses, as well as under non-challenged conditions. The large majority of the proteins detected are involved in “cell wall organization and biogenesis”, “response to stimulus” and “protein metabolism”. It becomes apparent that some proteins are always detected, irrespective of the experimental conditions, although with different relative contribution. This fact suggests that non-challenged plants have intrinsic constitutive metabolic processes of stress/defense in the ECS. In addition to the multiple functions ascribed to the ECS proteins, should be considered the interactions established between themselves and with the plasma membrane and its components. These interactions are crucial in connecting exterior and interior of the cell, and even simple protein actions in the ECS can have profound effects on plant performance. The proteins of the ECS are permanently contributing to the high dynamic nature of this plant compartment, which seems fundamental to plant development and adaptation to the environmental conditions.

Dynamics of Hippocampal Protein Expression During Long-term Spatial Memory Formation*

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Borovok, Natalia; Nesher, Elimelech; Levin, Yishai; Reichenstein, Michal; Pinhasov, Albert

2016-01-01

Spatial memory depends on the hippocampus, which is particularly vulnerable to aging. This vulnerability has implications for the impairment of navigation capacities in older people, who may show a marked drop in performance of spatial tasks with advancing age. Contemporary understanding of long-term memory formation relies on molecular mechanisms underlying long-term synaptic plasticity. With memory acquisition, activity-dependent changes occurring in synapses initiate multiple signal transduction pathways enhancing protein turnover. This enhancement facilitates de novo synthesis of plasticity related proteins, crucial factors for establishing persistent long-term synaptic plasticity and forming memory engrams. Extensive studies have been performed to elucidate molecular mechanisms of memory traces formation; however, the identity of plasticity related proteins is still evasive. In this study, we investigated protein turnover in mouse hippocampus during long-term spatial memory formation using the reference memory version of radial arm maze (RAM) paradigm. We identified 1592 proteins, which exhibited a complex picture of expression changes during spatial memory formation. Variable linear decomposition reduced significantly data dimensionality and enriched three principal factors responsible for variance of memory-related protein levels at (1) the initial phase of memory acquisition (165 proteins), (2) during the steep learning improvement (148 proteins), and (3) the final phase of the learning curve (123 proteins). Gene ontology and signaling pathways analysis revealed a clear correlation between memory improvement and learning phase-curbed expression profiles of proteins belonging to specific functional categories. We found differential enrichment of (1) neurotrophic factors signaling pathways, proteins regulating synaptic transmission, and actin microfilament during the first day of the learning curve; (2) transcription and translation machinery, protein

Dynamics of Hippocampal Protein Expression During Long-term Spatial Memory Formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Borovok, Natalia; Nesher, Elimelech; Levin, Yishai; Reichenstein, Michal; Pinhasov, Albert; Michaelevski, Izhak

2016-02-01

Spatial memory depends on the hippocampus, which is particularly vulnerable to aging. This vulnerability has implications for the impairment of navigation capacities in older people, who may show a marked drop in performance of spatial tasks with advancing age. Contemporary understanding of long-term memory formation relies on molecular mechanisms underlying long-term synaptic plasticity. With memory acquisition, activity-dependent changes occurring in synapses initiate multiple signal transduction pathways enhancing protein turnover. This enhancement facilitates de novo synthesis of plasticity related proteins, crucial factors for establishing persistent long-term synaptic plasticity and forming memory engrams. Extensive studies have been performed to elucidate molecular mechanisms of memory traces formation; however, the identity of plasticity related proteins is still evasive. In this study, we investigated protein turnover in mouse hippocampus during long-term spatial memory formation using the reference memory version of radial arm maze (RAM) paradigm. We identified 1592 proteins, which exhibited a complex picture of expression changes during spatial memory formation. Variable linear decomposition reduced significantly data dimensionality and enriched three principal factors responsible for variance of memory-related protein levels at (1) the initial phase of memory acquisition (165 proteins), (2) during the steep learning improvement (148 proteins), and (3) the final phase of the learning curve (123 proteins). Gene ontology and signaling pathways analysis revealed a clear correlation between memory improvement and learning phase-curbed expression profiles of proteins belonging to specific functional categories. We found differential enrichment of (1) neurotrophic factors signaling pathways, proteins regulating synaptic transmission, and actin microfilament during the first day of the learning curve; (2) transcription and translation machinery, protein

Reverse micelles as a tool for probing solvent modulation of protein dynamics: Reverse micelle encapsulated hemoglobin

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Roche, Camille J.; Dantsker, David; Heller, Elizabeth R.; Sabat, Joseph E.; Friedman, Joel M.

2013-08-01

Hydration waters impact protein dynamics. Dissecting the interplay between hydration waters and dynamics requires a protein that manifests a broad range of dynamics. Proteins in reverse micelles (RMs) have promise as tools to achieve this objective because the water content can be manipulated. Hemoglobin is an appropriate tool with which to probe hydration effects. We describe both a protocol for hemoglobin encapsulation in reverse micelles and a facile method using PEG and cosolvents to manipulate water content. Hydration properties are probed using the water-sensitive fluorescence from Hb bound pyranine and covalently attached Badan. Protein dynamics are probed through ligand recombination traces derived from photodissociated carbonmonoxy hemoglobin on a log scale that exposes the potential role of both α and β solvent fluctuations in modulating protein dynamics. The results open the possibility of probing hydration level phenomena in this system using a combination of NMR and optical probes.

Watching proteins function with picosecond X-ray crystallography and molecular dynamics simulations.

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Anfinrud, Philip

2006-03-01

Time-resolved electron density maps of myoglobin, a ligand-binding heme protein, have been stitched together into movies that unveil with molecular dynamics (MD) calculations and picosecond time-resolved X-ray structures provides single-molecule insights into mechanisms of protein function. Ensemble-averaged MD simulations of the L29F mutant of myoglobin following ligand dissociation reproduce the direction, amplitude, and timescales of crystallographically-determined structural changes. This close agreement with experiments at comparable resolution in space and time validates the individual MD trajectories, which identify and structurally characterize a conformational switch that directs dissociated ligands to one of two nearby protein cavities. This unique combination of simulation and experiment unveils functional protein motions and illustrates at an atomic level relationships among protein structure, dynamics, and function. In collaboration with Friedrich Schotte and Gerhard Hummer, NIH.

Local dynamics of proteins and DNA evaluated from crystallographic B factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, Bohdan; Gelly, Jean-Christophe; Brevern, Alexandre G. de; Černý, Jiří

2014-01-01

Distributions of scaled B factors from 704 protein–DNA complexes reflect primarily the neighbourhood of amino-acid and nucleotide residues: their flexibility grows from the protein core to protein–protein and protein–DNA interfaces, to solvent-exposed residues. Some of the findings clearly observed at higher resolution structures can no longer be observed for structures at low resolution indicating problems in refinement protocols. The dynamics of protein and nucleic acid structures is as important as their average static picture. The local molecular dynamics concealed in diffraction images is expressed as so-called B factors. To find out how the crystal-derived B factors represent the dynamic behaviour of atoms and residues of proteins and DNA in their complexes, the distributions of scaled B factors from a carefully curated data set of over 700 protein–DNA crystal structures were analyzed [Schneider et al. (2014 ▶), Nucleic Acids Res.42, 3381–3394]. Amino acids and nucleotides were categorized based on their molecular neighbourhood as solvent-accessible, solvent-inaccessible (i.e. forming the protein core) or lying at protein–protein or protein–DNA interfaces; the backbone and side-chain atoms were analyzed separately. The B factors of two types of crystal-ordered water molecules were also analyzed. The analysis confirmed several expected features of protein and DNA dynamics, but also revealed surprising facts. Solvent-accessible amino acids have B factors that are larger than those of residues at the biomolecular interfaces, and core-forming amino acids are the most restricted in their movement. A unique feature of the latter group is that their side-chain and backbone atoms are restricted in their movement to the same extent; in all other amino-acid groups the side chains are more floppy than the backbone. The low values of the B factors of water molecules bridging proteins with DNA and the very large fluctuations of DNA phosphates are

Local dynamics of proteins and DNA evaluated from crystallographic B factors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schneider, Bohdan, E-mail: bohdan.schneider@gmail.com [Institute of Biotechnology AS CR, Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague (Czech Republic); Gelly, Jean-Christophe; Brevern, Alexandre G. de [INSERM, U1134, DSIMB, 75739 Paris (France); Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, UMR-S 1134, 75739 Paris (France); Institut National de la Transfusion Sanguine (INTS), 75739 Paris (France); Laboratoire d’Excellence GR-Ex, 75739 Paris (France); Černý, Jiří [Institute of Biotechnology AS CR, Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague (Czech Republic)

2014-09-01

Distributions of scaled B factors from 704 protein–DNA complexes reflect primarily the neighbourhood of amino-acid and nucleotide residues: their flexibility grows from the protein core to protein–protein and protein–DNA interfaces, to solvent-exposed residues. Some of the findings clearly observed at higher resolution structures can no longer be observed for structures at low resolution indicating problems in refinement protocols. The dynamics of protein and nucleic acid structures is as important as their average static picture. The local molecular dynamics concealed in diffraction images is expressed as so-called B factors. To find out how the crystal-derived B factors represent the dynamic behaviour of atoms and residues of proteins and DNA in their complexes, the distributions of scaled B factors from a carefully curated data set of over 700 protein–DNA crystal structures were analyzed [Schneider et al. (2014 ▶), Nucleic Acids Res.42, 3381–3394]. Amino acids and nucleotides were categorized based on their molecular neighbourhood as solvent-accessible, solvent-inaccessible (i.e. forming the protein core) or lying at protein–protein or protein–DNA interfaces; the backbone and side-chain atoms were analyzed separately. The B factors of two types of crystal-ordered water molecules were also analyzed. The analysis confirmed several expected features of protein and DNA dynamics, but also revealed surprising facts. Solvent-accessible amino acids have B factors that are larger than those of residues at the biomolecular interfaces, and core-forming amino acids are the most restricted in their movement. A unique feature of the latter group is that their side-chain and backbone atoms are restricted in their movement to the same extent; in all other amino-acid groups the side chains are more floppy than the backbone. The low values of the B factors of water molecules bridging proteins with DNA and the very large fluctuations of DNA phosphates are

Dynamic regulation of GDP binding to G proteins revealed by magnetic field-dependent NMR relaxation analyses.

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Toyama, Yuki; Kano, Hanaho; Mase, Yoko; Yokogawa, Mariko; Osawa, Masanori; Shimada, Ichio

2017-02-22

Heterotrimeric guanine-nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins) serve as molecular switches in signalling pathways, by coupling the activation of cell surface receptors to intracellular responses. Mutations in the G protein α-subunit (Gα) that accelerate guanosine diphosphate (GDP) dissociation cause hyperactivation of the downstream effector proteins, leading to oncogenesis. However, the structural mechanism of the accelerated GDP dissociation has remained unclear. Here, we use magnetic field-dependent nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation analyses to investigate the structural and dynamic properties of GDP bound Gα on a microsecond timescale. We show that Gα rapidly exchanges between a ground-state conformation, which tightly binds to GDP and an excited conformation with reduced GDP affinity. The oncogenic D150N mutation accelerates GDP dissociation by shifting the equilibrium towards the excited conformation.

Conformational dynamics of amyloid proteins at the aqueous interface

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Armbruster, Matthew; Horst, Nathan; Aoki, Brendy; Malik, Saad; Soto, Patricia

2013-03-01

Amyloid proteins is a class of proteins that exhibit distinct monomeric and oligomeric conformational states hallmark of deleterious neurological diseases for which there are not yet cures. Our goal is to examine the extent of which the aqueous/membrane interface modulates the folding energy landscape of amyloid proteins. To this end, we probe the dynamic conformational ensemble of amyloids (monomer prion protein and Alzheimer's Ab protofilaments) interacting with model bilayers. We will present the results of our coarse grain molecular modeling study in terms of the existence of preferential binding spots of the amyloid to the bilayer and the response of the bilayer to the interaction with the amyloid. NSF Nebraska EPSCoR First Award

Dynamical analysis of yeast protein interaction network during the sake brewing process.

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Mirzarezaee, Mitra; Sadeghi, Mehdi; Araabi, Babak N

2011-12-01

Proteins interact with each other for performing essential functions of an organism. They change partners to get involved in various processes at different times or locations. Studying variations of protein interactions within a specific process would help better understand the dynamic features of the protein interactions and their functions. We studied the protein interaction network of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) during the brewing of Japanese sake. In this process, yeast cells are exposed to several stresses. Analysis of protein interaction networks of yeast during this process helps to understand how protein interactions of yeast change during the sake brewing process. We used gene expression profiles of yeast cells for this purpose. Results of our experiments revealed some characteristics and behaviors of yeast hubs and non-hubs and their dynamical changes during the brewing process. We found that just a small portion of the proteins (12.8 to 21.6%) is responsible for the functional changes of the proteins in the sake brewing process. The changes in the number of edges and hubs of the yeast protein interaction networks increase in the first stages of the process and it then decreases at the final stages.

Constant pH molecular dynamics of proteins in explicit solvent with proton tautomerism.

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Goh, Garrett B; Hulbert, Benjamin S; Zhou, Huiqing; Brooks, Charles L

2014-07-01

pH is a ubiquitous regulator of biological activity, including protein-folding, protein-protein interactions, and enzymatic activity. Existing constant pH molecular dynamics (CPHMD) models that were developed to address questions related to the pH-dependent properties of proteins are largely based on implicit solvent models. However, implicit solvent models are known to underestimate the desolvation energy of buried charged residues, increasing the error associated with predictions that involve internal ionizable residue that are important in processes like hydrogen transport and electron transfer. Furthermore, discrete water and ions cannot be modeled in implicit solvent, which are important in systems like membrane proteins and ion channels. We report on an explicit solvent constant pH molecular dynamics framework based on multi-site λ-dynamics (CPHMD(MSλD)). In the CPHMD(MSλD) framework, we performed seamless alchemical transitions between protonation and tautomeric states using multi-site λ-dynamics, and designed novel biasing potentials to ensure that the physical end-states are predominantly sampled. We show that explicit solvent CPHMD(MSλD) simulations model realistic pH-dependent properties of proteins such as the Hen-Egg White Lysozyme (HEWL), binding domain of 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (BBL) and N-terminal domain of ribosomal protein L9 (NTL9), and the pKa predictions are in excellent agreement with experimental values, with a RMSE ranging from 0.72 to 0.84 pKa units. With the recent development of the explicit solvent CPHMD(MSλD) framework for nucleic acids, accurate modeling of pH-dependent properties of both major class of biomolecules-proteins and nucleic acids is now possible. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Complex approach of beam dynamic investigation in SC LINAC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samoshin, A.V.

2012-01-01

Beam dynamic investigation is difficult for superconducting linac consisting from periodic sequences of independently phased accelerating cavities and focusing solenoids. The matrix calculation was preferably used for previous estimate of accelerating structure parameters. The matrix calculation does not allow properly investigate the longitudinal motion. The smooth approximation can be used to investigate the nonlinear ion beam dynamics in such accelerating structure and to calculate the longitudinal and transverse acceptances. The potential function and equation of motion in the Hamiltonian form are devised by the smooth approximation. The advantages and disadvantages of each method will describe, the results of investigation will compare. Application package for ion beam dynamic analysis will create. A numerical simulation of beam dynamics in the full field will carry out for the different variants of the accelerator structure based on analytically obtained results.

Dynamics of the DNA repair proteins WRN and BLM in the nucleoplasm and nucleoli.

Science.gov (United States)

Bendtsen, Kristian Moss; Jensen, Martin Borch; May, Alfred; Rasmussen, Lene Juel; Trusina, Ala; Bohr, Vilhelm A; Jensen, Mogens H

2014-11-01

We have investigated the mobility of two EGFP-tagged DNA repair proteins, WRN and BLM. In particular, we focused on the dynamics in two locations, the nucleoli and the nucleoplasm. We found that both WRN and BLM use a "DNA-scanning" mechanism, with rapid binding-unbinding to DNA resulting in effective diffusion. In the nucleoplasm WRN and BLM have effective diffusion coefficients of 1.62 and 1.34 μm(2)/s, respectively. Likewise, the dynamics in the nucleoli are also best described by effective diffusion, but with diffusion coefficients a factor of ten lower than in the nucleoplasm. From this large reduction in diffusion coefficient we were able to classify WRN and BLM as DNA damage scanners. In addition to WRN and BLM we also classified other DNA damage proteins and found they all fall into one of two categories. Either they are scanners, similar to WRN and BLM, with very low diffusion coefficients, suggesting a scanning mechanism, or they are almost freely diffusing, suggesting that they interact with DNA only after initiation of a DNA damage response.

Dynamic nuclear polarization methods in solids and solutions to explore membrane proteins and membrane systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Chi-Yuan; Han, Songi

2013-01-01

Membrane proteins regulate vital cellular processes, including signaling, ion transport, and vesicular trafficking. Obtaining experimental access to their structures, conformational fluctuations, orientations, locations, and hydration in membrane environments, as well as the lipid membrane properties, is critical to understanding their functions. Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) of frozen solids can dramatically boost the sensitivity of current solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance tools to enhance access to membrane protein structures in native membrane environments. Overhauser DNP in the solution state can map out the local and site-specific hydration dynamics landscape of membrane proteins and lipid membranes, critically complementing the structural and dynamics information obtained by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Here, we provide an overview of how DNP methods in solids and solutions can significantly increase our understanding of membrane protein structures, dynamics, functions, and hydration in complex biological membrane environments.

Reverse micelles as a tool for probing solvent modulation of protein dynamics: Reverse micelle encapsulated hemoglobin☆

OpenAIRE

Roche, Camille J.; Dantsker, David; Heller, Elizabeth R.; Sabat, Joseph E.; Friedman, Joel M.

2013-01-01

Hydration waters impact protein dynamics. Dissecting the interplay between hydration waters and dynamics requires a protein that manifests a broad range of dynamics. Proteins in reverse micelles (RMs) have promise as tools to achieve this objective because the water content can be manipulated. Hemoglobin is an appropriate tool with which to probe hydration effects. We describe both a protocol for hemoglobin encapsulation in reverse micelles and a facile method using PEG and cosolvents to mani...

A method for investigating protein-protein interactions related to Salmonella typhimurium pathogenesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chowdhury, Saiful M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Shi, Liang [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Yoon, Hyunjin [Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (United States); Ansong, Charles [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Rommereim, Leah M. [Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (United States); Norbeck, Angela D. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Auberry, Kenneth J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Moore, R. J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Adkins, Joshua N. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Heffron, Fred [Oregon Health and Science Univ., Portland, OR (United States); Smith, Richard D. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2009-02-10

We successfully modified an existing method to investigate protein-protein interactions in the pathogenic bacterium Salmonella typhimurium (STM). This method includes i) addition of a histidine-biotin-histidine tag to the bait proteins via recombinant DNA techniques; ii) in vivo cross-linking with formaldehyde; iii) tandem affinity purification of bait proteins under fully denaturing conditions; and iv) identification of the proteins cross-linked to the bait proteins by liquid-chromatography in conjunction with tandem mass-spectrometry. In vivo cross-linking stabilized protein interactions permitted the subsequent two-step purification step conducted under denaturing conditions. The two-step purification greatly reduced nonspecific binding of non-cross-linked proteins to bait proteins. Two different negative controls were employed to reduce false-positive identification. In an initial demonstration of this approach, we tagged three selected STM proteins- HimD, PduB and PhoP- with known binding partners that ranged from stable (e.g., HimD) to transient (i.e., PhoP). Distinct sets of interacting proteins were identified with each bait protein, including the known binding partners such as HimA for HimD, as well as anticipated and unexpected binding partners. Our results suggest that novel protein-protein interactions may be critical to pathogenesis by Salmonella typhimurium. .

Statistical Estimation of the Protein-Ligand Binding Free Energy Based On Direct Protein-Ligand Interaction Obtained by Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haruki Nakamura

2012-09-01

Full Text Available We have developed a method for estimating protein-ligand binding free energy (DG based on the direct protein-ligand interaction obtained by a molecular dynamics simulation. Using this method, we estimated the DG value statistically by the average values of the van der Waals and electrostatic interactions between each amino acid of the target protein and the ligand molecule. In addition, we introduced fluctuations in the accessible surface area (ASA and dihedral angles of the protein-ligand complex system as the entropy terms of the DG estimation. The present method included the fluctuation term of structural change of the protein and the effective dielectric constant. We applied this method to 34 protein-ligand complex structures. As a result, the correlation coefficient between the experimental and calculated DG values was 0.81, and the average error of DG was 1.2 kcal/mol with the use of the fixed parameters. These results were obtained from a 2 nsec molecular dynamics simulation.

Multiscale molecular dynamics simulations of membrane remodeling by Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs family proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Chun, Chan; Haohua, Wen; Lanyuan, Lu; Jun, Fan

2016-01-01

Membrane curvature is no longer thought of as a passive property of the membrane; rather, it is considered as an active, regulated state that serves various purposes in the cell such as between cells and organelle definition. While transport is usually mediated by tiny membrane bubbles known as vesicles or membrane tubules, such communication requires complex interplay between the lipid bilayers and cytosolic proteins such as members of the Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs (BAR) superfamily of proteins. With rapid developments in novel experimental techniques, membrane remodeling has become a rapidly emerging new field in recent years. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are important tools for obtaining atomistic information regarding the structural and dynamic aspects of biological systems and for understanding the physics-related aspects. The availability of more sophisticated experimental data poses challenges to the theoretical community for developing novel theoretical and computational techniques that can be used to better interpret the experimental results to obtain further functional insights. In this review, we summarize the general mechanisms underlying membrane remodeling controlled or mediated by proteins. While studies combining experiments and molecular dynamics simulations recall existing mechanistic models, concurrently, they extend the role of different BAR domain proteins during membrane remodeling processes. We review these recent findings, focusing on how multiscale molecular dynamics simulations aid in understanding the physical basis of BAR domain proteins, as a representative of membrane-remodeling proteins. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21403182) and the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, China (Grant No. CityU 21300014).

Differential dynamic microscopy of weakly scattering and polydisperse protein-rich clusters

Science.gov (United States)

Safari, Mohammad S.; Vorontsova, Maria A.; Poling-Skutvik, Ryan; Vekilov, Peter G.; Conrad, Jacinta C.

2015-10-01

Nanoparticle dynamics impact a wide range of biological transport processes and applications in nanomedicine and natural resource engineering. Differential dynamic microscopy (DDM) was recently developed to quantify the dynamics of submicron particles in solutions from fluctuations of intensity in optical micrographs. Differential dynamic microscopy is well established for monodisperse particle populations, but has not been applied to solutions containing weakly scattering polydisperse biological nanoparticles. Here we use bright-field DDM (BDDM) to measure the dynamics of protein-rich liquid clusters, whose size ranges from tens to hundreds of nanometers and whose total volume fraction is less than 10-5. With solutions of two proteins, hemoglobin A and lysozyme, we evaluate the cluster diffusion coefficients from the dependence of the diffusive relaxation time on the scattering wave vector. We establish that for weakly scattering populations, an optimal thickness of the sample chamber exists at which the BDDM signal is maximized at the smallest sample volume. The average cluster diffusion coefficient measured using BDDM is consistently lower than that obtained from dynamic light scattering at a scattering angle of 90∘. This apparent discrepancy is due to Mie scattering from the polydisperse cluster population, in which larger clusters preferentially scatter more light in the forward direction.

Study of the interaction of potassium ion channel protein with micelle by molecular dynamics simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Shantappa, Anil; Talukdar, Keka

2018-04-01

Ion channels are proteins forming pore inside the body of all living organisms. This potassium ion channel known as KcsA channel and it is found in the each cell and nervous system. Flow of various ions is regulated by the function of the ion channels. The nerve ion channel protein with protein data bank entry 1BL8, which is basically an ion channel protein in Streptomyces Lividans and which is taken up to form micelle-protein system and the system is analyzed by using molecular dynamics simulation. Firstly, ion channel pore is engineered by CHARMM potential and then Micelle-protein system is subjected to molecular dynamics simulation. For some specific micelle concentration, the protein unfolding is observed.

Simulation of Protein Structure, Dynamics and Function in Organic Media

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Daggett, Valerie

1998-01-01

The overall goal of our ONR-sponsored research is to pursue realistic molecular modeling strudies pertinnent to the related properties of protein stability, dynamics, structure, function, and folding in aqueous solution...

Protein Dynamics in Organic Media at Varying Water Activity Studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wedberg, Nils Hejle Rasmus Ingemar; Abildskov, Jens; Peters, Günther H.J.

2012-01-01

In nonaqueous enzymology, control of enzyme hydration is commonly approached by fixing the thermodynamic water activity of the medium. In this work, we present a strategy for evaluating the water activity in molecular dynamics simulations of proteins in water/organic solvent mixtures. The method...... relies on determining the water content of the bulk phase and uses a combination of Kirkwood−Buff theory and free energy calculations to determine corresponding activity coefficients. We apply the method in a molecular dynamics study of Candida antarctica lipase B in pure water and the organic solvents...

A dynamic study of protein secretion and aggregation in the secretory pathway.

Science.gov (United States)

Mossuto, Maria Francesca; Sannino, Sara; Mazza, Davide; Fagioli, Claudio; Vitale, Milena; Yoboue, Edgar Djaha; Sitia, Roberto; Anelli, Tiziana

2014-01-01

Precise coordination of protein biogenesis, traffic and homeostasis within the early secretory compartment (ESC) is key for cell physiology. As a consequence, disturbances in these processes underlie many genetic and chronic diseases. Dynamic imaging methods are needed to follow the fate of cargo proteins and their interactions with resident enzymes and folding assistants. Here we applied the Halotag labelling system to study the behavior of proteins with different fates and roles in ESC: a chaperone, an ERAD substrate and an aggregation-prone molecule. Exploiting the Halo property of binding covalently ligands labelled with different fluorochromes, we developed and performed non-radioactive pulse and chase assays to follow sequential waves of proteins in ESC, discriminating between young and old molecules at the single cell level. In this way, we could monitor secretion and degradation of ER proteins in living cells. We can also follow the biogenesis, growth, accumulation and movements of protein aggregates in the ESC. Our data show that protein deposits within ESC grow by sequential apposition of molecules up to a given size, after which novel seeds are detected. The possibility of using ligands with distinct optical and physical properties offers a novel possibility to dynamically follow the fate of proteins in the ESC.

A dynamic study of protein secretion and aggregation in the secretory pathway.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Francesca Mossuto

Full Text Available Precise coordination of protein biogenesis, traffic and homeostasis within the early secretory compartment (ESC is key for cell physiology. As a consequence, disturbances in these processes underlie many genetic and chronic diseases. Dynamic imaging methods are needed to follow the fate of cargo proteins and their interactions with resident enzymes and folding assistants. Here we applied the Halotag labelling system to study the behavior of proteins with different fates and roles in ESC: a chaperone, an ERAD substrate and an aggregation-prone molecule. Exploiting the Halo property of binding covalently ligands labelled with different fluorochromes, we developed and performed non-radioactive pulse and chase assays to follow sequential waves of proteins in ESC, discriminating between young and old molecules at the single cell level. In this way, we could monitor secretion and degradation of ER proteins in living cells. We can also follow the biogenesis, growth, accumulation and movements of protein aggregates in the ESC. Our data show that protein deposits within ESC grow by sequential apposition of molecules up to a given size, after which novel seeds are detected. The possibility of using ligands with distinct optical and physical properties offers a novel possibility to dynamically follow the fate of proteins in the ESC.

Communication: Microsecond dynamics of the protein and water affect electron transfer in a bacterial bc1 complex

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Daniel R.; Matyushov, Dmitry V.

2015-04-01

Cross-membrane electron transport between cofactors localized in proteins of mitochondrial respiration and bacterial photosynthesis is the source of all biological energy. The statistics and dynamics of nuclear fluctuations in these protein/membrane/water heterogeneous systems are critical for their energetic efficiency. The results of 13 μs of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of the membrane-bound bc1 bacterial complex are analyzed here. The reaction is affected by a broad spectrum of nuclear modes, with the slowest dynamics in the range of time-scales ˜0.1-1.6 μs contributing half of the reaction reorganization energy. Two reorganization energies are required to describe protein electron transfer due to dynamical arrest of protein conformations on the observation window. This mechanistic distinction allows significant lowering of activation barriers for reactions in proteins.

Communication: Microsecond dynamics of the protein and water affect electron transfer in a bacterial bc1 complex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, Daniel R.; Matyushov, Dmitry V.

2015-01-01

Cross-membrane electron transport between cofactors localized in proteins of mitochondrial respiration and bacterial photosynthesis is the source of all biological energy. The statistics and dynamics of nuclear fluctuations in these protein/membrane/water heterogeneous systems are critical for their energetic efficiency. The results of 13 μs of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of the membrane-bound bc 1 bacterial complex are analyzed here. The reaction is affected by a broad spectrum of nuclear modes, with the slowest dynamics in the range of time-scales ∼0.1-1.6 μs contributing half of the reaction reorganization energy. Two reorganization energies are required to describe protein electron transfer due to dynamical arrest of protein conformations on the observation window. This mechanistic distinction allows significant lowering of activation barriers for reactions in proteins

Dynamics of the Peripheral Membrane Protein P2 from Human Myelin Measured by Neutron Scattering--A Comparison between Wild-Type Protein and a Hinge Mutant.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saara Laulumaa

Full Text Available Myelin protein P2 is a fatty acid-binding structural component of the myelin sheath in the peripheral nervous system, and its function is related to its membrane binding capacity. Here, the link between P2 protein dynamics and structure and function was studied using elastic incoherent neutron scattering (EINS. The P38G mutation, at the hinge between the β barrel and the α-helical lid, increased the lipid stacking capacity of human P2 in vitro, and the mutated protein was also functional in cultured cells. The P38G mutation did not change the overall structure of the protein. For a deeper insight into P2 structure-function relationships, information on protein dynamics in the 10 ps to 1 ns time scale was obtained using EINS. Values of mean square displacements mainly from protein H atoms were extracted for wild-type P2 and the P38G mutant and compared. Our results show that at physiological temperatures, the P38G mutant is more dynamic than the wild-type P2 protein, especially on a slow 1-ns time scale. Molecular dynamics simulations confirmed the enhanced dynamics of the mutant variant, especially within the portal region in the presence of bound fatty acid. The increased softness of the hinge mutant of human myelin P2 protein is likely related to an enhanced flexibility of the portal region of this fatty acid-binding protein, as well as to its interactions with the lipid bilayer surface requiring conformational adaptations.

Combining short- and long-range fluorescence reporters with simulations to explore the intramolecular dynamics of an intrinsically disordered protein

Science.gov (United States)

Zosel, Franziska; Haenni, Dominik; Soranno, Andrea; Nettels, Daniel; Schuler, Benjamin

2017-10-01

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are increasingly recognized as a class of molecules that can exert essential biological functions even in the absence of a well-defined three-dimensional structure. Understanding the conformational distributions and dynamics of these highly flexible proteins is thus essential for explaining the molecular mechanisms underlying their function. Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy in combination with Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a powerful tool for probing intramolecular distances and the rapid long-range distance dynamics in IDPs. To complement the information from FRET, we combine it with photoinduced electron transfer (PET) quenching to monitor local loop-closure kinetics at the same time and in the same molecule. Here we employed this combination to investigate the intrinsically disordered N-terminal domain of HIV-1 integrase. The results show that both long-range dynamics and loop closure kinetics on the sub-microsecond time scale can be obtained reliably from a single set of measurements by the analysis with a comprehensive model of the underlying photon statistics including both FRET and PET. A more detailed molecular interpretation of the results is enabled by direct comparison with a recent extensive atomistic molecular dynamics simulation of integrase. The simulations are in good agreement with experiment and can explain the deviation from simple models of chain dynamics by the formation of persistent local secondary structure. The results illustrate the power of a close combination of single-molecule spectroscopy and simulations for advancing our understanding of the dynamics and detailed mechanisms in unfolded and intrinsically disordered proteins.

Conformational Rigidity and Protein Dynamics at Distinct Timescales Regulate PTP1B Activity and Allostery.

Science.gov (United States)

Choy, Meng S; Li, Yang; Machado, Luciana E S F; Kunze, Micha B A; Connors, Christopher R; Wei, Xingyu; Lindorff-Larsen, Kresten; Page, Rebecca; Peti, Wolfgang

2017-02-16

Protein function originates from a cooperation of structural rigidity, dynamics at different timescales, and allostery. However, how these three pillars of protein function are integrated is still only poorly understood. Here we show how these pillars are connected in Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B (PTP1B), a drug target for diabetes and cancer that catalyzes the dephosphorylation of numerous substrates in essential signaling pathways. By combining new experimental and computational data on WT-PTP1B and ≥10 PTP1B variants in multiple states, we discovered a fundamental and evolutionarily conserved CH/π switch that is critical for positioning the catalytically important WPD loop. Furthermore, our data show that PTP1B uses conformational and dynamic allostery to regulate its activity. This shows that both conformational rigidity and dynamics are essential for controlling protein activity. This connection between rigidity and dynamics at different timescales is likely a hallmark of all enzyme function. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Graphical User Interface for Software-assisted Tracking of Protein Concentration in Dynamic Cellular Protrusions.

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Tanumoy; Rathmann, Isabel; Galic, Milos

2017-07-11

Filopodia are dynamic, finger-like cellular protrusions associated with migration and cell-cell communication. In order to better understand the complex signaling mechanisms underlying filopodial initiation, elongation and subsequent stabilization or retraction, it is crucial to determine the spatio-temporal protein activity in these dynamic structures. To analyze protein function in filopodia, we recently developed a semi-automated tracking algorithm that adapts to filopodial shape-changes, thus allowing parallel analysis of protrusion dynamics and relative protein concentration along the whole filopodial length. Here, we present a detailed step-by-step protocol for optimized cell handling, image acquisition and software analysis. We further provide instructions for the use of optional features during image analysis and data representation, as well as troubleshooting guidelines for all critical steps along the way. Finally, we also include a comparison of the described image analysis software with other programs available for filopodia quantification. Together, the presented protocol provides a framework for accurate analysis of protein dynamics in filopodial protrusions using image analysis software.

Progression of 3D Protein Structure and Dynamics Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Sato-Tomita, Ayana; Sekiguchi, Hiroshi; Sasaki, Yuji C.

2018-06-01

New measurement methodologies have begun to be proposed with the recent progress in the life sciences. Here, we introduce two new methodologies, X-ray fluorescence holography for protein structural analysis and diffracted X-ray tracking (DXT), to observe the dynamic behaviors of individual single molecules.

Combining protein sequence, structure, and dynamics: A novel approach for functional evolution analysis of PAS domain superfamily.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Zheng; Zhou, Hongyu; Tao, Peng

2018-02-01

PAS domains are widespread in archaea, bacteria, and eukaryota, and play important roles in various functions. In this study, we aim to explore functional evolutionary relationship among proteins in the PAS domain superfamily in view of the sequence-structure-dynamics-function relationship. We collected protein sequences and crystal structure data from RCSB Protein Data Bank of the PAS domain superfamily belonging to three biological functions (nucleotide binding, photoreceptor activity, and transferase activity). Protein sequences were aligned and then used to select sequence-conserved residues and build phylogenetic tree. Three-dimensional structure alignment was also applied to obtain structure-conserved residues. The protein dynamics were analyzed using elastic network model (ENM) and validated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The result showed that the proteins with same function could be grouped by sequence similarity, and proteins in different functional groups displayed statistically significant difference in their vibrational patterns. Interestingly, in all three functional groups, conserved amino acid residues identified by sequence and structure conservation analysis generally have a lower fluctuation than other residues. In addition, the fluctuation of conserved residues in each biological function group was strongly correlated with the corresponding biological function. This research suggested a direct connection in which the protein sequences were related to various functions through structural dynamics. This is a new attempt to delineate functional evolution of proteins using the integrated information of sequence, structure, and dynamics. © 2017 The Protein Society.

Fluorescent Reporters and Biosensors for Probing the Dynamic Behavior of Protein Kinases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan A. González-Vera

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Probing the dynamic activities of protein kinases in real-time in living cells constitutes a major challenge that requires specific and sensitive tools tailored to meet the particular demands associated with cellular imaging. The development of genetically-encoded and synthetic fluorescent biosensors has provided means of monitoring protein kinase activities in a non-invasive fashion in their native cellular environment with high spatial and temporal resolution. Here, we review existing technologies to probe different dynamic features of protein kinases and discuss limitations where new developments are required to implement more performant tools, in particular with respect to infrared and near-infrared fluorescent probes and strategies which enable improved signal-to-noise ratio and controlled activation of probes.

Dynamics and energetics of the mammalian phosphatidylinositol transfer protein phospholipid exchange cycle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grabon, Aby; Orłowski, Adam; Tripathi, Ashutosh

2017-01-01

. However, the details of the PITP-mediated lipid exchange cycle remain entirely obscure. Here, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of the mammalian StART-like PtdIns/phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) transfer protein PITPα, both on membrane bilayers and in solvated systems, informed downstream biochemical...... analyses that tested key aspects of the hypotheses generated by the molecular dynamics simulations. These studies provided five key insights into the PITPα lipid exchange cycle: (i) interaction of PITPα with the membrane is spontaneous and mediated by four specific protein substructures; (ii) the ability......Phosphatidylinositol-transfer proteins (PITPs) regulate phosphoinositide signaling in eukaryotic cells. The defining feature of PITPs is their ability to exchange phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) molecules between membranes, and this property is central to PITP-mediated regulation of lipid signaling...

S-Nitrosylation Induces Structural and Dynamical Changes in a Rhodanese Family Protein.

Science.gov (United States)

Eichmann, Cédric; Tzitzilonis, Christos; Nakamura, Tomohiro; Kwiatkowski, Witek; Maslennikov, Innokentiy; Choe, Senyon; Lipton, Stuart A; Riek, Roland

2016-09-25

S-Nitrosylation is well established as an important post-translational regulator in protein function and signaling. However, relatively little is known about its structural and dynamical consequences. We have investigated the effects of S-nitrosylation on the rhodanese domain of the Escherichia coli integral membrane protein YgaP by NMR, X-ray crystallography, and mass spectrometry. The results show that the active cysteine in the rhodanese domain of YgaP is subjected to two competing modifications: S-nitrosylation and S-sulfhydration, which are naturally occurring in vivo. It has been observed that in addition to inhibition of the sulfur transfer activity, S-nitrosylation of the active site residue Cys63 causes an increase in slow motion and a displacement of helix 5 due to a weakening of the interaction between the active site and the helix dipole. These findings provide an example of how nitrosative stress can exert action at the atomic level. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adsorption of protein GlnB of Herbaspirillum seropedicae on Si(111) investigated by AFM and XPS.

Science.gov (United States)

Lubambo, A F; Benelli, E M; Klein, J; Schreiner, W; Camargo, P C

2006-01-01

The protein GlnB-Hs (GlnB of Herbaspirillum seropedicae) in diazotroph micro-organisms signalizes levels of nitrogen, carbon, and energy for a series of proteins involved in the regulation of expression and control of the activity of nitrogenase complex that converts atmospheric nitrogen in ammonia, resulting in biological nitrogen fixation. Its structure has already been determined by X-ray diffraction, revealing a trimer of (36 kDa) with lateral cavities having hydrophilic boundaries. The interactions of GlnB-Hs with the well-known Si(111) surface were investigated for different incubation times, protein concentrations in initial solution, deposition conditions, and substrate initial state. The protein solution was deposited on Si(111) and dried under controlled conditions. An atomic force microscope operating in dynamic mode shows images of circular, linear, and more complex donut-shaped protein arrangement, and also filament types of organization, which vary from a few nanometers to micrometers. Apparently, the filament formation was favored because of protein surface polarity when in contact with the silicon surface, following some specific orientation. The spin-coating technique was successfully used to obtain more uniform surface covering.

Role of xanthophylls in light harvesting in green plants: a spectroscopic investigation of mutant LHCII and Lhcb pigment-protein complexes.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuciman, Marcel; Enriquez, Miriam M; Polívka, Tomáš; Dall'Osto, Luca; Bassi, Roberto; Frank, Harry A

2012-03-29

The spectroscopic properties and energy transfer dynamics of the protein-bound chlorophylls and xanthophylls in monomeric, major LHCII complexes, and minor Lhcb complexes from genetically altered Arabidopsis thaliana plants have been investigated using both steady-state and time-resolved absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic methods. The pigment-protein complexes that were studied contain Chl a, Chl b, and variable amounts of the xanthophylls, zeaxanthin (Z), violaxanthin (V), neoxanthin (N), and lutein (L). The complexes were derived from mutants of plants denoted npq1 (NVL), npq2lut2 (Z), aba4npq1lut2 (V), aba4npq1 (VL), npq1lut2 (NV), and npq2 (LZ). The data reveal specific singlet energy transfer routes and excited state spectra and dynamics that depend on the xanthophyll present in the complex.

Unveiling protein functions through the dynamics of the interaction network.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irene Sendiña-Nadal

Full Text Available Protein interaction networks have become a tool to study biological processes, either for predicting molecular functions or for designing proper new drugs to regulate the main biological interactions. Furthermore, such networks are known to be organized in sub-networks of proteins contributing to the same cellular function. However, the protein function prediction is not accurate and each protein has traditionally been assigned to only one function by the network formalism. By considering the network of the physical interactions between proteins of the yeast together with a manual and single functional classification scheme, we introduce a method able to reveal important information on protein function, at both micro- and macro-scale. In particular, the inspection of the properties of oscillatory dynamics on top of the protein interaction network leads to the identification of misclassification problems in protein function assignments, as well as to unveil correct identification of protein functions. We also demonstrate that our approach can give a network representation of the meta-organization of biological processes by unraveling the interactions between different functional classes.

Interaction of Classical Platinum Agents with the Monomeric and Dimeric Atox1 Proteins: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaolei Wang

2013-12-01

Full Text Available We carried out molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations for a series of binary and ternary models of the cisplatin, transplatin and oxaliplatin agents binding to a monomeric Atox1 protein and a dimeric Atox1 protein to investigate their interaction mechanisms. All three platinum agents could respectively combine with the monomeric Atox1 protein and the dimeric Atox1 protein to form a stable binary and ternary complex due to the covalent interaction of the platinum center with the Atox1 protein. The results suggested that the extra interaction from the oxaliplatin ligand–Atox1 protein interface increases its affinity only for the OxaliPt + Atox1 model. The binding of the oxaliplatin agent to the Atox1 protein might cause larger deformation of the protein than those of the cisplatin and transplatin agents due to the larger size of the oxaliplatin ligand. However, the extra interactions to facilitate the stabilities of the ternary CisPt + 2Atox1 and OxaliPt + 2Atox1 models come from the α1 helices and α2-β4 loops of the Atox1 protein–Atox1 protein interface due to the cis conformation of the platinum agents. The combinations of two Atox1 proteins in an asymmetric way in the three ternary models were analyzed. These investigations might provide detailed information for understanding the interaction mechanism of the platinum agents binding to the Atox1 protein in the cytoplasm.

Protein complexes and cholesterol in the control of late endosomal dynamicsCholesterol and multi-protein complexes in the control of late endosomal dynamics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kant, Rik Henricus Nicolaas van der

2013-01-01

Late endosomal transport is disrupted in several diseases such as Niemann-Pick type C, ARC syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease. This thesis describes the regulation of late endosomal dynamics by cholesterol and multi-protein complexes. We find that cholesterol acts as a cellular tomtom that steers the

Nanotribology investigations with classical molecular dynamics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Solhjoo, Soheil

2017-01-01

This thesis presents a number of nanotribological problems investigated by means of classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, within the context of the applicability of continuum mechanics contact theories at the atomic scale. Along these lines, three different themes can be recognized herein:

Deciphering the Dynamic Interaction Profile of an Intrinsically Disordered Protein by NMR Exchange Spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Delaforge, Elise; Kragelj, Jaka; Tengo, Laura; Palencia, Andrés; Milles, Sigrid; Bouvignies, Guillaume; Salvi, Nicola; Blackledge, Martin; Jensen, Malene Ringkjøbing

2018-01-24

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) display a large number of interaction modes including folding-upon-binding, binding without major structural transitions, or binding through highly dynamic, so-called fuzzy, complexes. The vast majority of experimental information about IDP binding modes have been inferred from crystal structures of proteins in complex with short peptides of IDPs. However, crystal structures provide a mainly static view of the complexes and do not give information about the conformational dynamics experienced by the IDP in the bound state. Knowledge of the dynamics of IDP complexes is of fundamental importance to understand how IDPs engage in highly specific interactions without concomitantly high binding affinity. Here, we combine rotating-frame R 1ρ , Carr-Purcell-Meiboom Gill relaxation dispersion as well as chemical exchange saturation transfer to decipher the dynamic interaction profile of an IDP in complex with its partner. We apply the approach to the dynamic signaling complex formed between the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) p38α and the intrinsically disordered regulatory domain of the MAPK kinase MKK4. Our study demonstrates that MKK4 employs a subtle combination of interaction modes in order to bind to p38α, leading to a complex displaying significantly different dynamics across the bound regions.

Dynamic changes in protein functional linkage networks revealed by integration with gene expression data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shubhada R Hegde

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Response of cells to changing environmental conditions is governed by the dynamics of intricate biomolecular interactions. It may be reasonable to assume, proteins being the dominant macromolecules that carry out routine cellular functions, that understanding the dynamics of protein:protein interactions might yield useful insights into the cellular responses. The large-scale protein interaction data sets are, however, unable to capture the changes in the profile of protein:protein interactions. In order to understand how these interactions change dynamically, we have constructed conditional protein linkages for Escherichia coli by integrating functional linkages and gene expression information. As a case study, we have chosen to analyze UV exposure in wild-type and SOS deficient E. coli at 20 minutes post irradiation. The conditional networks exhibit similar topological properties. Although the global topological properties of the networks are similar, many subtle local changes are observed, which are suggestive of the cellular response to the perturbations. Some such changes correspond to differences in the path lengths among the nodes of carbohydrate metabolism correlating with its loss in efficiency in the UV treated cells. Similarly, expression of hubs under unique conditions reflects the importance of these genes. Various centrality measures applied to the networks indicate increased importance for replication, repair, and other stress proteins for the cells under UV treatment, as anticipated. We thus propose a novel approach for studying an organism at the systems level by integrating genome-wide functional linkages and the gene expression data.

Correlation of chemical shifts predicted by molecular dynamics simulations for partially disordered proteins

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karp, Jerome M.; Erylimaz, Ertan; Cowburn, David, E-mail: cowburn@cowburnlab.org, E-mail: David.cowburn@einstein.yu.edu [Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Department of Biochemistry (United States)

2015-01-15

There has been a longstanding interest in being able to accurately predict NMR chemical shifts from structural data. Recent studies have focused on using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation data as input for improved prediction. Here we examine the accuracy of chemical shift prediction for intein systems, which have regions of intrinsic disorder. We find that using MD simulation data as input for chemical shift prediction does not consistently improve prediction accuracy over use of a static X-ray crystal structure. This appears to result from the complex conformational ensemble of the disordered protein segments. We show that using accelerated molecular dynamics (aMD) simulations improves chemical shift prediction, suggesting that methods which better sample the conformational ensemble like aMD are more appropriate tools for use in chemical shift prediction for proteins with disordered regions. Moreover, our study suggests that data accurately reflecting protein dynamics must be used as input for chemical shift prediction in order to correctly predict chemical shifts in systems with disorder.

Communication: Microsecond dynamics of the protein and water affect electron transfer in a bacterial bc{sub 1} complex

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martin, Daniel R.; Matyushov, Dmitry V., E-mail: dmitrym@asu.edu [Department of Physics and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 871504, Tempe, Arizona 85287 (United States)

2015-04-28

Cross-membrane electron transport between cofactors localized in proteins of mitochondrial respiration and bacterial photosynthesis is the source of all biological energy. The statistics and dynamics of nuclear fluctuations in these protein/membrane/water heterogeneous systems are critical for their energetic efficiency. The results of 13 μs of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of the membrane-bound bc{sub 1} bacterial complex are analyzed here. The reaction is affected by a broad spectrum of nuclear modes, with the slowest dynamics in the range of time-scales ∼0.1-1.6 μs contributing half of the reaction reorganization energy. Two reorganization energies are required to describe protein electron transfer due to dynamical arrest of protein conformations on the observation window. This mechanistic distinction allows significant lowering of activation barriers for reactions in proteins.

Dynamics of a Highly Flexible Protein

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Lisbeth

malleability are the subject of this defense. Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the dynamics of NCBD have been investigated on timescales ranging from picoseconds to milliseconds using relaxation dispersion experiments, residual dipolar couplings and methyl group deuterium relaxation. From...

Mechanical stretching of proteins-a theoretical survey of the Protein Data Bank

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sulkowska, Joanna I; Cieplak, Marek

2007-01-01

The mechanical stretching of single proteins has been studied experimentally for about 50 proteins, yielding a variety of force patterns and peak forces. Here we perform a theoretical survey of proteins of known native structure and map out the landscape of possible dynamical behaviours under stretching at constant speed. We consider 7510 proteins comprising not more than 150 amino acids and 239 longer proteins. The model used is constructed based on the native geometry. It is solved by methods of molecular dynamics and validated by comparing the theoretical predictions to experimental results. We characterize the distribution of peak forces and investigate correlations with the system size and with the structure classification as characterized by the CATH scheme. Despite the presence of such correlations, proteins with the same CATH index may belong to different classes of dynamical behaviour. We identify proteins with the biggest forces and show that they belong to few topology classes. We determine which protein segments act as mechanical clamps and show that, in most cases, they correspond to long stretches of parallel β-strands, but other mechanisms are also possible. (topical review)

Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations resolve apparent diffusion rate differences for proteins confined in nanochannels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tringe, J.W., E-mail: tringe2@llnl.gov [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA (United States); Ileri, N. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA (United States); Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, University of California, Davis, CA (United States); Levie, H.W. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA (United States); Stroeve, P.; Ustach, V.; Faller, R. [Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, University of California, Davis, CA (United States); Renaud, P. [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, (EPFL) (Switzerland)

2015-08-18

Highlights: • WGA proteins in nanochannels modeled by Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo. • Protein surface coverage characterized by atomic force microscopy. • Models indicate transport characteristics depend strongly on surface coverage. • Results resolve of a four orders of magnitude difference in diffusion coefficient values. - Abstract: We use Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations to examine molecular transport phenomena in nanochannels, explaining four orders of magnitude difference in wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) protein diffusion rates observed by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and by direct imaging of fluorescently-labeled proteins. We first use the ESPResSo Molecular Dynamics code to estimate the surface transport distance for neutral and charged proteins. We then employ a Monte Carlo model to calculate the paths of protein molecules on surfaces and in the bulk liquid transport medium. Our results show that the transport characteristics depend strongly on the degree of molecular surface coverage. Atomic force microscope characterization of surfaces exposed to WGA proteins for 1000 s show large protein aggregates consistent with the predicted coverage. These calculations and experiments provide useful insight into the details of molecular motion in confined geometries.

Duplicate retention in signalling proteins and constraints from network dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Soyer, O S; Creevey, C J

2010-11-01

Duplications are a major driving force behind evolution. Most duplicates are believed to fix through genetic drift, but it is not clear whether this process affects all duplications equally or whether there are certain gene families that are expected to show neutral expansions under certain circumstances. Here, we analyse the neutrality of duplications in different functional classes of signalling proteins based on their effects on response dynamics. We find that duplications involving intermediary proteins in a signalling network are neutral more often than those involving receptors. Although the fraction of neutral duplications in all functional classes increase with decreasing population size and selective pressure on dynamics, this effect is most pronounced for receptors, indicating a possible expansion of receptors in species with small population size. In line with such an expectation, we found a statistically significant increase in the number of receptors as a fraction of genome size in eukaryotes compared with prokaryotes. Although not confirmative, these results indicate that neutral processes can be a significant factor in shaping signalling networks and affect proteins from different functional classes differently. © 2010 The Authors. Journal Compilation © 2010 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Prediction of methyl-side Chain Dynamics in Proteins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ming Dengming; Brueschweiler, Rafael

2004-01-01

A simple analytical model is presented for the prediction of methyl-side chain dynamics in comparison with S 2 order parameters obtained by NMR relaxation spectroscopy. The model, which is an extension of the local contact model for backbone order parameter prediction, uses a static 3D protein structure as input. It expresses the methyl-group S 2 order parameters as a function of local contacts of the methyl carbon with respect to the neighboring atoms in combination with the number of consecutive mobile dihedral angles between the methyl group and the protein backbone. For six out of seven proteins the prediction results are good when compared with experimentally determined methyl-group S 2 values with an average correlation coefficient r-bar=0.65±0.14. For the unusually rigid cytochrome c 2 no significant correlation between prediction and experiment is found. The presented model provides independent support for the reliability of current side-chain relaxation methods along with their interpretation by the model-free formalism

Dynamics of Linker Residues Modulate the Nucleic Acid Binding Properties of the HIV-1 Nucleocapsid Protein Zinc Fingers

Science.gov (United States)

Zargarian, Loussiné; Tisné, Carine; Barraud, Pierre; Xu, Xiaoqian; Morellet, Nelly; René, Brigitte; Mély, Yves; Fossé, Philippe; Mauffret, Olivier

2014-01-01

The HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein (NC) is a small basic protein containing two zinc fingers (ZF) separated by a short linker. It is involved in several steps of the replication cycle and acts as a nucleic acid chaperone protein in facilitating nucleic acid strand transfers occurring during reverse transcription. Recent analysis of three-dimensional structures of NC-nucleic acids complexes established a new property: the unpaired guanines targeted by NC are more often inserted in the C-terminal zinc finger (ZF2) than in the N-terminal zinc finger (ZF1). Although previous NMR dynamic studies were performed with NC, the dynamic behavior of the linker residues connecting the two ZF domains remains unclear. This prompted us to investigate the dynamic behavior of the linker residues. Here, we collected 15N NMR relaxation data and used for the first time data at several fields to probe the protein dynamics. The analysis at two fields allows us to detect a slow motion occurring between the two domains around a hinge located in the linker at the G35 position. However, the amplitude of motion appears limited in our conditions. In addition, we showed that the neighboring linker residues R29, A30, P31, R32, K33 displayed restricted motion and numerous contacts with residues of ZF1. Our results are fully consistent with a model in which the ZF1-linker contacts prevent the ZF1 domain to interact with unpaired guanines, whereas the ZF2 domain is more accessible and competent to interact with unpaired guanines. In contrast, ZF1 with its large hydrophobic plateau is able to destabilize the double-stranded regions adjacent to the guanines bound by ZF2. The linker residues and the internal dynamics of NC regulate therefore the different functions of the two zinc fingers that are required for an optimal chaperone activity. PMID:25029439

The dynamics of plant plasma membrane proteins: PINs and beyond.

Science.gov (United States)

Luschnig, Christian; Vert, Grégory

2014-08-01

Plants are permanently situated in a fixed location and thus are well adapted to sense and respond to environmental stimuli and developmental cues. At the cellular level, several of these responses require delicate adjustments that affect the activity and steady-state levels of plasma membrane proteins. These adjustments involve both vesicular transport to the plasma membrane and protein internalization via endocytic sorting. A substantial part of our current knowledge of plant plasma membrane protein sorting is based on studies of PIN-FORMED (PIN) auxin transport proteins, which are found at distinct plasma membrane domains and have been implicated in directional efflux of the plant hormone auxin. Here, we discuss the mechanisms involved in establishing such polar protein distributions, focusing on PINs and other key plant plasma membrane proteins, and we highlight the pathways that allow for dynamic adjustments in protein distribution and turnover, which together constitute a versatile framework that underlies the remarkable capabilities of plants to adjust growth and development in their ever-changing environment. © 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Getting the ion-protein interactions right in molecular dynamics simulations

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Duboué-Dijon, Elise; Mason, Philip E.; Jungwirth, Pavel

2017-01-01

Roč. 46, Suppl 1 (2017), S66 ISSN 0175-7571. [IUPAB congress /19./ and EBSA congress /11./. 16.07.2017-20.07.2017, Edinburgh] Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : ion-protein interaction * molecular dynamics simulations * neutron scattering * insulin Subject RIV: BO - Biophysics

Dynamic protein S-palmitoylation mediates parasite life cycle progression and diverse mechanisms of virulence.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Robert W B; Sharma, Aabha I; Engman, David M

2017-04-01

Eukaryotic parasites possess complex life cycles and utilize an assortment of molecular mechanisms to overcome physical barriers, suppress and/or bypass the host immune response, including invading host cells where they can replicate in a protected intracellular niche. Protein S-palmitoylation is a dynamic post-translational modification in which the fatty acid palmitate is covalently linked to cysteine residues on proteins by the enzyme palmitoyl acyltransferase (PAT) and can be removed by lysosomal palmitoyl-protein thioesterase (PPT) or cytosolic acyl-protein thioesterase (APT). In addition to anchoring proteins to intracellular membranes, functions of dynamic palmitoylation include - targeting proteins to specific intracellular compartments via trafficking pathways, regulating the cycling of proteins between membranes, modulating protein function and regulating protein stability. Recent studies in the eukaryotic parasites - Plasmodium falciparum, Toxoplasma gondii, Trypanosoma brucei, Cryptococcus neoformans and Giardia lamblia - have identified large families of PATs and palmitoylated proteins. Many palmitoylated proteins are important for diverse aspects of pathogenesis, including differentiation into infective life cycle stages, biogenesis and tethering of secretory organelles, assembling the machinery powering motility and targeting virulence factors to the plasma membrane. This review aims to summarize our current knowledge of palmitoylation in eukaryotic parasites, highlighting five exemplary mechanisms of parasite virulence dependent on palmitoylation.

Anaerobic digestion of cattle offal: protein and lipid-rich substrate degradation and population dynamics of acidogens and methanogens.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Joonyeob; Koo, Taewoan; Han, Gyuseong; Shin, Seung Gu; Hwang, Seokhwan

2015-12-01

Anaerobic digestion of cattle offal was investigated in batch reactors at 35 °C to determine the feasibility of using cattle offal as a feedstock. The organic content [i.e., volatile solids (VS)] of the cattle offal was mainly composed of protein (33.9%) and lipids (46.1%). Hydrolysis along with acidogenesis was monitored to investigate the substrate degradation and generation of intermediate products (e.g., volatile fatty acids, ammonia). Acetate (2.03 g/L), propionate (0.60 g/L), n-butyrate (0.39 g/L), and iso-valerate (0.37 g/L) were major acidogenesis products (91% of total volatile fatty acid concentration). Overall protein and lipid degradation were 82.9 and 81.8%, respectively. Protein degraded first, and four times faster (0.28 day(-1)) than lipid (0.07 day(-1)). Methane yields were 0.52 L CH4/g VSadded and 0.65 L CH4/g VSremoved, indicating that anaerobic digestion of the offal was feasible. A quantitative QPCR assay was conducted to understand the microbial dynamics. The variation patt erns in the gene concentrations successfully indicated the population dynamics of proteolytic and lipolytic acidogens. A fourth-order Runge-Kutta approximation was used to determine the kinetics of the acidogens. The molecular biotechnology approach was appropriate for the evaluation of the acidogenic biokinetics. The maximum growth rate, μ m, halfsaturation coefficients, K s, microbial yield coefficient, Y, cell mass decay rate coefficient, k d, of the proteolytic acidogens were 9.9 day(-1), 37.8 g protein/L, 1.1 × 10(10) copies/g protein, and 3.8 × 10(-1), respectively. Those for the lipolytic acidogens were 1.2 × 10(-1) day(-1), 8.3 g lipid/L, 1.5 × 10(9) copies/g lipid, and 9.9 × 10(-3) day(-1), respectively.

A correspondence between solution-state dynamics of an individual protein and the sequence and conformational diversity of its family.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregory D Friedland

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Conformational ensembles are increasingly recognized as a useful representation to describe fundamental relationships between protein structure, dynamics and function. Here we present an ensemble of ubiquitin in solution that is created by sampling conformational space without experimental information using "Backrub" motions inspired by alternative conformations observed in sub-Angstrom resolution crystal structures. Backrub-generated structures are then selected to produce an ensemble that optimizes agreement with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR Residual Dipolar Couplings (RDCs. Using this ensemble, we probe two proposed relationships between properties of protein ensembles: (i a link between native-state dynamics and the conformational heterogeneity observed in crystal structures, and (ii a relation between dynamics of an individual protein and the conformational variability explored by its natural family. We show that the Backrub motional mechanism can simultaneously explore protein native-state dynamics measured by RDCs, encompass the conformational variability present in ubiquitin complex structures and facilitate sampling of conformational and sequence variability matching those occurring in the ubiquitin protein family. Our results thus support an overall relation between protein dynamics and conformational changes enabling sequence changes in evolution. More practically, the presented method can be applied to improve protein design predictions by accounting for intrinsic native-state dynamics.

Structural and dynamic characterization of eukaryotic gene regulatory protein domains in solution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Andrew Loyd [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry

1996-05-01

Solution NMR was primarily used to characterize structure and dynamics in two different eukaryotic protein systems: the δ-Al-ε activation domain from c-jun and the Drosophila RNA-binding protein Sex-lethal. The second system is the Drosophila Sex-lethal (Sxl) protein, an RNA-binding protein which is the ``master switch`` in sex determination. Sxl contains two adjacent RNA-binding domains (RBDs) of the RNP consensus-type. The NMR spectrum of the second RBD (Sxl-RBD2) was assigned using multidimensional heteronuclear NMR, and an intermediate-resolution family of structures was calculated from primarily NOE distance restraints. The overall fold was determined to be similar to other RBDs: a βαβ-βαβ pattern of secondary structure, with the two helices packed against a 4-stranded anti-parallel β-sheet. In addition ¹⁵N T₁, T₂, and ¹⁵N/¹H NOE relaxation measurements were carried out to characterize the backbone dynamics of Sxl-RBD2 in solution. RNA corresponding to the polypyrimidine tract of transformer pre-mRNA was generated and titrated into 3 different Sxl-RBD protein constructs. Combining Sxl-RBD1+2 (bht RBDs) with this RNA formed a specific, high affinity protein/RNA complex that is amenable to further NMR characterization. The backbone ¹H, ¹³C, and ¹⁵N resonances of Sxl-RBD1+2 were assigned using a triple-resonance approach, and ¹⁵N relaxation experiments were carried out to characterize the backbone dynamics of this complex. The changes in chemical shift in Sxl-RBD1+2 upon binding RNA are observed using Sxl-RBD2 as a substitute for unbound Sxl-RBD1+2. This allowed the binding interface to be qualitatively mapped for the second domain.

Gcn4-Mediator Specificity Is Mediated by a Large and Dynamic Fuzzy Protein-Protein Complex.

Science.gov (United States)

Tuttle, Lisa M; Pacheco, Derek; Warfield, Linda; Luo, Jie; Ranish, Jeff; Hahn, Steven; Klevit, Rachel E

2018-03-20

Transcription activation domains (ADs) are inherently disordered proteins that often target multiple coactivator complexes, but the specificity of these interactions is not understood. Efficient transcription activation by yeast Gcn4 requires its tandem ADs and four activator-binding domains (ABDs) on its target, the Mediator subunit Med15. Multiple ABDs are a common feature of coactivator complexes. We find that the large Gcn4-Med15 complex is heterogeneous and contains nearly all possible AD-ABD interactions. Gcn4-Med15 forms via a dynamic fuzzy protein-protein interface, where ADs bind the ABDs in multiple orientations via hydrophobic regions that gain helicity. This combinatorial mechanism allows individual low-affinity and specificity interactions to generate a biologically functional, specific, and higher affinity complex despite lacking a defined protein-protein interface. This binding strategy is likely representative of many activators that target multiple coactivators, as it allows great flexibility in combinations of activators that can cooperate to regulate genes with variable coactivator requirements. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PCI-SS: MISO dynamic nonlinear protein secondary structure prediction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aboul-Magd Mohammed O

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Since the function of a protein is largely dictated by its three dimensional configuration, determining a protein's structure is of fundamental importance to biology. Here we report on a novel approach to determining the one dimensional secondary structure of proteins (distinguishing α-helices, β-strands, and non-regular structures from primary sequence data which makes use of Parallel Cascade Identification (PCI, a powerful technique from the field of nonlinear system identification. Results Using PSI-BLAST divergent evolutionary profiles as input data, dynamic nonlinear systems are built through a black-box approach to model the process of protein folding. Genetic algorithms (GAs are applied in order to optimize the architectural parameters of the PCI models. The three-state prediction problem is broken down into a combination of three binary sub-problems and protein structure classifiers are built using 2 layers of PCI classifiers. Careful construction of the optimization, training, and test datasets ensures that no homology exists between any training and testing data. A detailed comparison between PCI and 9 contemporary methods is provided over a set of 125 new protein chains guaranteed to be dissimilar to all training data. Unlike other secondary structure prediction methods, here a web service is developed to provide both human- and machine-readable interfaces to PCI-based protein secondary structure prediction. This server, called PCI-SS, is available at http://bioinf.sce.carleton.ca/PCISS. In addition to a dynamic PHP-generated web interface for humans, a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP interface is added to permit invocation of the PCI-SS service remotely. This machine-readable interface facilitates incorporation of PCI-SS into multi-faceted systems biology analysis pipelines requiring protein secondary structure information, and greatly simplifies high-throughput analyses. XML is used to represent the input

High protein flexibility and reduced hydration water dynamics are key pressure adaptive strategies in prokaryotes

KAUST Repository

Martinez, N.

2016-09-06

Water and protein dynamics on a nanometer scale were measured by quasi-elastic neutron scattering in the piezophile archaeon Thermococcus barophilus and the closely related pressure-sensitive Thermococcus kodakarensis, at 0.1 and 40 MPa. We show that cells of the pressure sensitive organism exhibit higher intrinsic stability. Both the hydration water dynamics and the fast protein and lipid dynamics are reduced under pressure. In contrast, the proteome of T. barophilus is more pressure sensitive than that of T. kodakarensis. The diffusion coefficient of hydration water is reduced, while the fast protein and lipid dynamics are slightly enhanced with increasing pressure. These findings show that the coupling between hydration water and cellular constituents might not be simply a master-slave relationship. We propose that the high flexibility of the T. barophilus proteome associated with reduced hydration water may be the keys to the molecular adaptation of the cells to high hydrostatic pressure.

High protein flexibility and reduced hydration water dynamics are key pressure adaptive strategies in prokaryotes

KAUST Repository

Martinez, N.; Michoud, Gregoire; Cario, A.; Ollivier, J.; Franzetti, B.; Jebbar, M.; Oger, P.; Peters, J.

2016-01-01

Water and protein dynamics on a nanometer scale were measured by quasi-elastic neutron scattering in the piezophile archaeon Thermococcus barophilus and the closely related pressure-sensitive Thermococcus kodakarensis, at 0.1 and 40 MPa. We show that cells of the pressure sensitive organism exhibit higher intrinsic stability. Both the hydration water dynamics and the fast protein and lipid dynamics are reduced under pressure. In contrast, the proteome of T. barophilus is more pressure sensitive than that of T. kodakarensis. The diffusion coefficient of hydration water is reduced, while the fast protein and lipid dynamics are slightly enhanced with increasing pressure. These findings show that the coupling between hydration water and cellular constituents might not be simply a master-slave relationship. We propose that the high flexibility of the T. barophilus proteome associated with reduced hydration water may be the keys to the molecular adaptation of the cells to high hydrostatic pressure.

Dynamics of protein aggregation and oligomer formation governed by secondary nucleation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Michaels, Thomas C. T., E-mail: tctm3@cam.ac.uk; Lazell, Hamish W.; Arosio, Paolo; Knowles, Tuomas P. J., E-mail: tpjk2@cam.ac.uk [Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW (United Kingdom)

2015-08-07

The formation of aggregates in many protein systems can be significantly accelerated by secondary nucleation, a process where existing assemblies catalyse the nucleation of new species. In particular, secondary nucleation has emerged as a central process controlling the proliferation of many filamentous protein structures, including molecular species related to diseases such as sickle cell anemia and a range of neurodegenerative conditions. Increasing evidence suggests that the physical size of protein filaments plays a key role in determining their potential for deleterious interactions with living cells, with smaller aggregates of misfolded proteins, oligomers, being particularly toxic. It is thus crucial to progress towards an understanding of the factors that control the sizes of protein aggregates. However, the influence of secondary nucleation on the time evolution of aggregate size distributions has been challenging to quantify. This difficulty originates in large part from the fact that secondary nucleation couples the dynamics of species distant in size space. Here, we approach this problem by presenting an analytical treatment of the master equation describing the growth kinetics of linear protein structures proliferating through secondary nucleation and provide closed-form expressions for the temporal evolution of the resulting aggregate size distribution. We show how the availability of analytical solutions for the full filament distribution allows us to identify the key physical parameters that control the sizes of growing protein filaments. Furthermore, we use these results to probe the dynamics of the populations of small oligomeric species as they are formed through secondary nucleation and discuss the implications of our work for understanding the factors that promote or curtail the production of these species with a potentially high deleterious biological activity.

Detection of Side Chain Rearrangements Mediating the Motions of Transmembrane Helices in Molecular Dynamics Simulations of G Protein-Coupled Receptors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zied Gaieb

Full Text Available Structure and dynamics are essential elements of protein function. Protein structure is constantly fluctuating and undergoing conformational changes, which are captured by molecular dynamics (MD simulations. We introduce a computational framework that provides a compact representation of the dynamic conformational space of biomolecular simulations. This method presents a systematic approach designed to reduce the large MD simulation spatiotemporal datasets into a manageable set in order to guide our understanding of how protein mechanics emerge from side chain organization and dynamic reorganization. We focus on the detection of side chain interactions that undergo rearrangements mediating global domain motions and vice versa. Side chain rearrangements are extracted from side chain interactions that undergo well-defined abrupt and persistent changes in distance time series using Gaussian mixture models, whereas global domain motions are detected using dynamic cross-correlation. Both side chain rearrangements and global domain motions represent the dynamic components of the protein MD simulation, and are both mapped into a network where they are connected based on their degree of coupling. This method allows for the study of allosteric communication in proteins by mapping out the protein dynamics into an intramolecular network to reduce the large simulation data into a manageable set of communities composed of coupled side chain rearrangements and global domain motions. This computational framework is suitable for the study of tightly packed proteins, such as G protein-coupled receptors, and we present an application on a seven microseconds MD trajectory of CC chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7 bound to its ligand CCL21. Keywords: Molecular dynamics, Change-point detection, Side chain reorganization, Helical domain motion, Intramolecular network, Membrane proteins, GPCR, GPCR computational modeling, GPCR allostery

Protein Availability and Satellite Cell Dynamics in Skeletal Muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Shamim, Baubak; Hawley, John A; Camera, Donny M

2018-06-01

Human skeletal muscle satellite cells are activated in response to both resistance and endurance exercise. It was initially proposed that satellite cell proliferation and differentiation were only required to support resistance exercise-induced hypertrophy. However, satellite cells may also play a role in muscle fibre remodelling after endurance-based exercise and extracellular matrix regulation. Given the importance of dietary protein, particularly branched chain amino acids, in supporting myofibrillar and mitochondrial adaptations to both resistance and endurance-based training, a greater understanding of how protein intake impacts satellite cell activity would provide further insight into the mechanisms governing skeletal muscle remodelling with exercise. While many studies have investigated the capacity for protein ingestion to increase post-exercise rates of muscle protein synthesis, few investigations have examined the role for protein ingestion to modulate satellite cell activity. Here we review the molecular mechanisms controlling the activation of satellite cells in response to mechanical stress and protein intake in both in vitro and in vivo models. We provide a mechanistic framework that describes how protein ingestion may enhance satellite activity and promote exercise adaptations in human skeletal muscle.

Mapping the Protein Fold Universe Using the CamTube Force Field in Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Kukic, Predrag; Kannan, Arvind; Dijkstra, Maurits J J; Abeln, Sanne; Camilloni, Carlo; Vendruscolo, Michele

2015-10-01

It has been recently shown that the coarse-graining of the structures of polypeptide chains as self-avoiding tubes can provide an effective representation of the conformational space of proteins. In order to fully exploit the opportunities offered by such a 'tube model' approach, we present here a strategy to combine it with molecular dynamics simulations. This strategy is based on the incorporation of the 'CamTube' force field into the Gromacs molecular dynamics package. By considering the case of a 60-residue polyvaline chain, we show that CamTube molecular dynamics simulations can comprehensively explore the conformational space of proteins. We obtain this result by a 20 μs metadynamics simulation of the polyvaline chain that recapitulates the currently known protein fold universe. We further show that, if residue-specific interaction potentials are added to the CamTube force field, it is possible to fold a protein into a topology close to that of its native state. These results illustrate how the CamTube force field can be used to explore efficiently the universe of protein folds with good accuracy and very limited computational cost.

Comparative Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase-Activated Protein Kinase 5

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inger Lindin

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase MK5 is a substrate of the mitogen-activated protein kinases p38, ERK3 and ERK4. Cell culture and animal studies have demonstrated that MK5 is involved in tumour suppression and promotion, embryogenesis, anxiety, cell motility and cell cycle regulation. In the present study, homology models of MK5 were used for molecular dynamics (MD simulations of: (1 MK5 alone; (2 MK5 in complex with an inhibitor; and (3 MK5 in complex with the interaction partner p38α. The calculations showed that the inhibitor occupied the active site and disrupted the intramolecular network of amino acids. However, intramolecular interactions consistent with an inactive protein kinase fold were not formed. MD with p38α showed that not only the p38 docking region, but also amino acids in the activation segment, αH helix, P-loop, regulatory phosphorylation region and the C-terminal of MK5 may be involved in forming a very stable MK5-p38α complex, and that p38α binding decreases the residual fluctuation of the MK5 model. Electrostatic Potential Surface (EPS calculations of MK5 and p38α showed that electrostatic interactions are important for recognition and binding.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) dynamics determine cell fate in the yeast mating response.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yang; Roberts, Julie; AkhavanAghdam, Zohreh; Hao, Nan

2017-12-15

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae , the exposure to mating pheromone activates a prototypic mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade and triggers a dose-dependent differentiation response. Whereas a high pheromone dose induces growth arrest and formation of a shmoo-like morphology in yeast cells, lower pheromone doses elicit elongated cell growth. Previous population-level analysis has revealed that the MAPK Fus3 plays an important role in mediating this differentiation switch. To further investigate how Fus3 controls the fate decision process at the single-cell level, we developed a specific translocation-based reporter for monitoring Fus3 activity in individual live cells. Using this reporter, we observed strikingly different dynamic patterns of Fus3 activation in single cells differentiated into distinct fates. Cells committed to growth arrest and shmoo formation exhibited sustained Fus3 activation. In contrast, most cells undergoing elongated growth showed either a delayed gradual increase or pulsatile dynamics of Fus3 activity. Furthermore, we found that chemically perturbing Fus3 dynamics with a specific inhibitor could effectively redirect the mating differentiation, confirming the causative role of Fus3 dynamics in driving cell fate decisions. MAPKs mediate proliferation and differentiation signals in mammals and are therapeutic targets in many cancers. Our results highlight the importance of MAPK dynamics in regulating single-cell responses and open up the possibility that MAPK signaling dynamics could be a pharmacological target in therapeutic interventions. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Insight into the intermolecular recognition mechanism between Keap1 and IKKβ combining homology modelling, protein-protein docking, molecular dynamics simulations and virtual alanine mutation.

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Zheng-Yu Jiang

Full Text Available Degradation of certain proteins through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway is a common strategy taken by the key modulators responsible for stress responses. Kelch-like ECH-associated protein-1(Keap1, a substrate adaptor component of the Cullin3 (Cul3-based ubiquitin E3 ligase complex, mediates the ubiquitination of two key modulators, NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2 and IκB kinase β (IKKβ, which are involved in the redox control of gene transcription. However, compared to the Keap1-Nrf2 protein-protein interaction (PPI, the intermolecular recognition mechanism of Keap1 and IKKβ has been poorly investigated. In order to explore the binding pattern between Keap1 and IKKβ, the PPI model of Keap1 and IKKβ was investigated. The structure of human IKKβ was constructed by means of the homology modeling method and using reported crystal structure of Xenopus laevis IKKβ as the template. A protein-protein docking method was applied to develop the Keap1-IKKβ complex model. After the refinement and visual analysis of docked proteins, the chosen pose was further optimized through molecular dynamics simulations. The resulting structure was utilized to conduct the virtual alanine mutation for the exploration of hot-spots significant for the intermolecular interaction. Overall, our results provided structural insights into the PPI model of Keap1-IKKβ and suggest that the substrate specificity of Keap1 depend on the interaction with the key tyrosines, namely Tyr525, Tyr574 and Tyr334. The study presented in the current project may be useful to design molecules that selectively modulate Keap1. The selective recognition mechanism of Keap1 with IKKβ or Nrf2 will be helpful to further know the crosstalk between NF-κB and Nrf2 signaling.

Change detection in the dynamics of an intracellular protein synthesis model using nonlinear Kalman filtering.

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Rigatos, Gerasimos G; Rigatou, Efthymia G; Djida, Jean Daniel

2015-10-01

A method for early diagnosis of parametric changes in intracellular protein synthesis models (e.g. the p53 protein - mdm2 inhibitor model) is developed with the use of a nonlinear Kalman Filtering approach (Derivative-free nonlinear Kalman Filter) and of statistical change detection methods. The intracellular protein synthesis dynamic model is described by a set of coupled nonlinear differential equations. It is shown that such a dynamical system satisfies differential flatness properties and this allows to transform it, through a change of variables (diffeomorphism), to the so-called linear canonical form. For the linearized equivalent of the dynamical system, state estimation can be performed using the Kalman Filter recursion. Moreover, by applying an inverse transformation based on the previous diffeomorphism it becomes also possible to obtain estimates of the state variables of the initial nonlinear model. By comparing the output of the Kalman Filter (which is assumed to correspond to the undistorted dynamical model) with measurements obtained from the monitored protein synthesis system, a sequence of differences (residuals) is obtained. The statistical processing of the residuals with the use of x2 change detection tests, can provide indication within specific confidence intervals about parametric changes in the considered biological system and consequently indications about the appearance of specific diseases (e.g. malignancies).

Dynameomics: a multi-dimensional analysis-optimized database for dynamic protein data.

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Kehl, Catherine; Simms, Andrew M; Toofanny, Rudesh D; Daggett, Valerie

2008-06-01

The Dynameomics project is our effort to characterize the native-state dynamics and folding/unfolding pathways of representatives of all known protein folds by way of molecular dynamics simulations, as described by Beck et al. (in Protein Eng. Des. Select., the first paper in this series). The data produced by these simulations are highly multidimensional in structure and multi-terabytes in size. Both of these features present significant challenges for storage, retrieval and analysis. For optimal data modeling and flexibility, we needed a platform that supported both multidimensional indices and hierarchical relationships between related types of data and that could be integrated within our data warehouse, as described in the accompanying paper directly preceding this one. For these reasons, we have chosen On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP), a multi-dimensional analysis optimized database, as an analytical platform for these data. OLAP is a mature technology in the financial sector, but it has not been used extensively for scientific analysis. Our project is further more unusual for its focus on the multidimensional and analytical capabilities of OLAP rather than its aggregation capacities. The dimensional data model and hierarchies are very flexible. The query language is concise for complex analysis and rapid data retrieval. OLAP shows great promise for the dynamic protein analysis for bioengineering and biomedical applications. In addition, OLAP may have similar potential for other scientific and engineering applications involving large and complex datasets.

Reaction dynamics of inflammation proteins and T lymphocytes during radon balneotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peter, A.; Vulpe, B.

1989-01-01

During a three-week radon treatment with daily administration of baths a periodical course of reaction with antidromic dynamics of inflammation proteins and T lymphocytes could be shown. A conspicuous reaction of the organism (moment of the treatment reaction) is to be observed one week after the beginning of the treatment. At the end of the cure a decrease of the activity of inflammation as well as of individual acute-phase proteins and immunoglobulins it to be proved. (author)

Dynamics of water clusters confined in proteins: a molecular dynamics simulation study of interfacial waters in a dimeric hemoglobin.

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Gnanasekaran, Ramachandran; Xu, Yao; Leitner, David M

2010-12-23

Water confined in proteins exhibits dynamics distinct from the dynamics of water in the bulk or near the surface of a biomolecule. We examine the water dynamics at the interface of the two globules of the homodimeric hemoglobin from Scapharca inaequivalvis (HbI) by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, with focus on water-protein hydrogen bond lifetimes and rotational anisotropy of the interfacial waters. We find that relaxation of the waters at the interface of both deoxy- and oxy-HbI, which contain a cluster of 17 and 11 interfacial waters, respectively, is well described by stretched exponentials with exponents from 0.1 to 0.6 and relaxation times of tens to thousands of picoseconds. The interfacial water molecules of oxy-HbI exhibit slower rotational relaxation and hydrogen bond rearrangement than those of deoxy-HbI, consistent with an allosteric transition from unliganded to liganded conformers involving the expulsion of several water molecules from the interface. Though the interfacial waters are translationally and rotationally static on the picosecond time scale, they contribute to fast communication between the globules via vibrations. We find that the interfacial waters enhance vibrational energy transport across the interface by ≈10%.

Numerical Investigations of Dynamic Stall Control

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Florin FRUNZULICA

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper we investigated numerically the dynamic stall phenomenon and the possibilities to control it, with application to vertical axis wind turbines (for urban users. The Phenomenon appear at low tip speed ratio (TSR<4 and it has a great impact on structural integrity of the wind turbine and power performances. For this reason we performed a computational study of dynamic stall around NACA 0012 airfoil in pitching motion at relative low Reynolds number (105. Also, we performed the same analysis for four flow control methods: two passive (Gurney flap and slot and two active (blowing jet on the rounded trailing edge and synthetic jet periodically activated. The Results are compared to those of an existing experimental case test.

Practical considerations for investigation of protein conformational dynamics by {sup 15}N R{sub 1ρ} relaxation dispersion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walinda, Erik [Kyoto University, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine (Japan); Morimoto, Daichi; Shirakawa, Masahiro; Sugase, Kenji, E-mail: sugase@moleng.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Kyoto University, Department of Molecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering (Japan)

2017-03-15

It is becoming increasingly apparent that proteins are not static entities and that their function often critically depends on accurate sampling of multiple conformational states in aqueous solution. Accordingly, the development of methods to study conformational states in proteins beyond their ground-state structure (“excited states”) has crucial biophysical importance. Here we investigate experimental schemes for optimally probing chemical exchange processes in proteins on the micro- to millisecond timescale by {sup 15}N R{sub 1ρ} relaxation dispersion. The schemes use selective Hartmann–Hahn cross-polarization (CP) transfer for excitation, and derive peak integrals from 1D NMR spectra (Korzhnev et al. in J Am Chem Soc 127:713–721, 2005; Hansen et al. in J Am Chem Soc 131:3818–3819, 2009). Simulation and experiment collectively show that in such CP-based schemes care has to be taken to achieve accurate suppression of undesired off-resonance coherences, when using weak spin-lock fields. This then (i) ensures that relaxation dispersion profiles in the absence of chemical exchange are flat, and (ii) facilitates extraction of relaxation dispersion profiles in crowded regions of the spectrum. Further improvement in the quality of the experimental data is achieved by recording the free-induction decays in an interleaved manner and including a heating-compensation element. The reported considerations will particularly benefit the use of CP-based R{sub 1ρ} relaxation dispersion to analyze conformational exchange processes in larger proteins, where resonance line overlap becomes the main limiting factor.

Investigations of the Dynamics of Space Charged Dominated Beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

York, Richard C.

2002-01-01

We propose to perform investigations of the dynamics of space charge dominated beams. These investigations will support present activities such as the electron ring project at the University of Maryland as well as provide an improved basis for future accelerator designs. Computer simulations will provide the primary research element with improved code development being an integral part of the activities during the first period. We believe that one of the code development projects provides a unique strategy for the inclusion of longitudinal dynamics, and that this concept should provide a computationally rapid research tool

Investigations of the Dynamics of Space Charged Dominated Beams

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

York, Richard C.

2002-08-01

We propose to perform investigations of the dynamics of space charge dominated beams. These investigations will support present activities such as the electron ring project at the University of Maryland as well as provide an improved basis for future accelerator designs. Computer simulations will provide the primary research element with improved code development being an integral part of the activities during the first period. We believe that one of the code development projects provides a unique strategy for the inclusion of longitudinal dynamics, and that this concept should provide a computationally rapid research tool.

Uncovering genes with divergent mRNA-protein dynamics in Streptomyces coelicolor.

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Karthik P Jayapal

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Many biological processes are intrinsically dynamic, incurring profound changes at both molecular and physiological levels. Systems analyses of such processes incorporating large-scale transcriptome or proteome profiling can be quite revealing. Although consistency between mRNA and proteins is often implicitly assumed in many studies, examples of divergent trends are frequently observed. Here, we present a comparative transcriptome and proteome analysis of growth and stationary phase adaptation in Streptomyces coelicolor, taking the time-dynamics of process into consideration. These processes are of immense interest in microbiology as they pertain to the physiological transformations eliciting biosynthesis of many naturally occurring therapeutic agents. A shotgun proteomics approach based on mass spectrometric analysis of isobaric stable isotope labeled peptides (iTRAQ enabled identification and rapid quantification of approximately 14% of the theoretical proteome of S. coelicolor. Independent principal component analyses of this and DNA microarray-derived transcriptome data revealed that the prominent patterns in both protein and mRNA domains are surprisingly well correlated. Despite this overall correlation, by employing a systematic concordance analysis, we estimated that over 30% of the analyzed genes likely exhibited significantly divergent patterns, of which nearly one-third displayed even opposing trends. Integrating this data with biological information, we discovered that certain groups of functionally related genes exhibit mRNA-protein discordance in a similar fashion. Our observations suggest that differences between mRNA and protein synthesis/degradation mechanisms are prominent in microbes while reaffirming the plausibility of such mechanisms acting in a concerted fashion at a protein complex or sub-pathway level.

Ligand-induced dynamics of heterotrimeric G protein-coupled receptor-like kinase complexes.

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Meral Tunc-Ozdemir

Full Text Available Arabidopsis, 7-transmembrane Regulator of G signaling protein 1 (AtRGS1 modulates canonical G protein signaling by promoting the inactive state of heterotrimeric G protein complex on the plasma membrane. It is known that plant leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR RLKs phosphorylate AtRGS1 in vitro but little is known about the in vivo interaction, molecular dynamics, or the cellular consequences of this interaction.Therefore, a subset of the known RLKs that phosphorylate AtRGS1 were selected for elucidation, namely, BAK1, BIR1, FLS2. Several microscopies for both static and dynamic protein-protein interactions were used to follow in vivo interactions between the RLKs and AtRGS1 after the presentation of the Pathogen-associated Molecular Pattern, Flagellin 22 (Flg22. These microscopies included Förster Resonance Energy Transfer, Bimolecular Fluoresence Complementation, and Cross Number and Brightness Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy. In addition, reactive oxygen species and calcium changes in living cells were quantitated using luminometry and R-GECO1 microscopy.The LRR RLKs BAK1 and BIR1, interact with AtRGS1 at the plasma membrane. The RLK ligand flg22 sets BAK1 in motion toward AtRGS1 and BIR1 away, both returning to the baseline orientations by 10 minutes. The C-terminal tail of AtRGS1 is important for the interaction with BAK1 and for the tempo of the AtRGS1/BIR1 dynamics. This window of time corresponds to the flg22-induced transient production of reactive oxygen species and calcium release which are both attenuated in the rgs1 and the bak1 null mutants.A temporal model of these interactions is proposed. flg22 binding induces nearly instantaneous dimerization between FLS2 and BAK1. Phosphorylated BAK1 interacts with and enables AtRGS1 to move away from BIR1 and AtRGS1 becomes phosphorylated leading to its endocytosis thus leading to de-repression by permitting AtGPA1 to exchange GDP for GTP. Finally, the G protein complex

Dynamic Change in p63 Protein Expression during Implantation of Urothelial Cancer Clusters

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Takahiro Yoshida

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Although the dissemination of urothelial cancer cells is supposed to be a major cause of the multicentricity of urothelial tumors, the mechanism of implantation has not been well investigated. Here, we found that cancer cell clusters from the urine of patients with urothelial cancer retain the ability to survive, grow, and adhere. By using cell lines and primary cells collected from multiple patients, we demonstrate that △Np63α protein in cancer cell clusters was rapidly decreased through proteasomal degradation when clusters were attached to the matrix, leading to downregulation of E-cadherin and upregulation of N-cadherin. Decreased △Np63α protein level in urothelial cancer cell clusters was involved in the clearance of the urothelium. Our data provide the first evidence that clusters of urothelial cancer cells exhibit dynamic changes in △Np63α expression during attachment to the matrix, and decreased △Np63α protein plays a critical role in the interaction between cancer cell clusters and the urothelium. Thus, because △Np63α might be involved in the process of intraluminal dissemination of urothelial cancer cells, blocking the degradation of △Np63α could be a target of therapy to prevent the dissemination of urothelial cancer.

Experimental investigation of protein folding and misfolding.

Science.gov (United States)

Dobson, Christopher M

2004-09-01

Newly synthesised proteins need to fold, often to intricate and close-packed structures, in order to function. The underlying mechanism by which this complex process takes place both in vitro and in vivo is now becoming understood, at least in general terms, as a result of the application of a wide range of biophysical and computational methods used in combination with the techniques of biochemistry and protein engineering. It is increasingly apparent, however, that folding is not only crucial for generating biological activity, but that it is also coupled to a wide range of processes within the cell, ranging from the trafficking of proteins to specific organelles to the regulation of cell growth and differentiation. Not surprisingly, therefore, the failure of proteins to fold appropriately, or to remain correctly folded, is associated with a large number of cellular malfunctions that give rise to disease. Misfolding, and its consequences such as aggregation, can be investigated by extending the types of techniques used to study the normal folding process. Application of these techniques is enabling the development of a unified description of the interconversion and regulation of the different conformational states available to proteins in living systems. Such a description proves a generic basis for understanding the fundamental links between protein misfolding and its associated clinical disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease and Type II diabetes, and for exploring novel therapeutic strategies directed at their prevention and treatment on a rational basis.

Influence of myelin proteins on the structure and dynamics of a model membrane with emphasis on the low temperature regime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knoll, W. [University Joseph Fourier, UFR PhiTEM, Grenoble (France); Institut Laue–Langevin, Grenoble (France); Peters, J. [University Joseph Fourier, UFR PhiTEM, Grenoble (France); Institut Laue–Langevin, Grenoble (France); Institut de Biologie Structurale, Grenoble (France); Kursula, P. [University of Oulu, Oulu (Finland); CSSB–HZI, DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Gerelli, Y. [Institut Laue–Langevin, Grenoble (France); Natali, F., E-mail: natali@ill.fr [Institut Laue–Langevin, Grenoble (France); CNR–IOM–OGG, c/o Institut Laue–Langevin, Grenoble (France)

2014-11-28

Myelin is an insulating, multi-lamellar membrane structure wrapped around selected nerve axons. Increasing the speed of nerve impulses, it is crucial for the proper functioning of the vertebrate nervous system. Human neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, are linked to damage to the myelin sheath through demyelination. Myelin exhibits a well defined subset of myelin-specific proteins, whose influence on membrane dynamics, i.e., myelin flexibility and stability, has not yet been explored in detail. In a first paper [W. Knoll, J. Peters, P. Kursula, Y. Gerelli, J. Ollivier, B. Demé, M. Telling, E. Kemner, and F. Natali, Soft Matter 10, 519 (2014)] we were able to spotlight, through neutron scattering experiments, the role of peripheral nervous system myelin proteins on membrane stability at room temperature. In particular, the myelin basic protein and peripheral myelin protein 2 were found to synergistically influence the membrane structure while keeping almost unchanged the membrane mobility. Further insight is provided by this work, in which we particularly address the investigation of the membrane flexibility in the low temperature regime. We evidence a different behavior suggesting that the proton dynamics is reduced by the addition of the myelin basic protein accompanied by negligible membrane structural changes. Moreover, we address the importance of correct sample preparation and characterization for the success of the experiment and for the reliability of the obtained results.

Influence of hydrostatic pressure on dynamics and spatial distribution of protein partial molar volume: time-resolved surficial Kirkwood-Buff approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Isseki; Tasaki, Tomohiro; Nakada, Kyoko; Nagaoka, Masataka

2010-09-30

The influence of hydrostatic pressure on the partial molar volume (PMV) of the protein apomyoglobin (AMb) was investigated by all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Using the time-resolved Kirkwood-Buff (KB) approach, the dynamic behavior of the PMV was identified. The simulated time average value of the PMV and its reduction by 3000 bar pressurization correlated with experimental data. In addition, with the aid of the surficial KB integral method, we obtained the spatial distributions of the components of PMV to elucidate the detailed mechanism of the PMV reduction. New R-dependent PMV profiles identified the regions that increase or decrease the PMV under the high pressure condition. The results indicate that besides the hydration in the vicinity of the protein surface, the outer space of the first hydration layer also significantly influences the total PMV change. These results provide a direct and detailed picture of pressure induced PMV reduction.

Computational exploration of single-protein mechanics by steered molecular dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sotomayor, Marcos [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio (United States)

2015-12-31

Hair cell mechanotransduction happens in tens of microseconds, involves forces of a few picoNewtons, and is mediated by nanometer-scale molecular conformational changes. As proteins involved in this process become identified and their high resolution structures become available, multiple tools are being used to explore their “single-molecule responses” to force. Optical tweezers and atomic force microscopy offer exquisite force and extension resolution, but cannot reach the high loading rates expected for high frequency auditory stimuli. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can reach these fast time scales, and also provide a unique view of the molecular events underlying protein mechanics, but its predictions must be experimentally verified. Thus a combination of simulations and experiments might be appropriate to study the molecular mechanics of hearing. Here I review the basics of MD simulations and the different methods used to apply force and study protein mechanics in silico. Simulations of tip link proteins are used to illustrate the advantages and limitations of this method.

Dynamic Coupling and Allosteric Networks in the α Subunit of Heterotrimeric G Proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Xin-Qiu; Malik, Rabia U; Griggs, Nicholas W; Skjærven, Lars; Traynor, John R; Sivaramakrishnan, Sivaraj; Grant, Barry J

2016-02-26

G protein α subunits cycle between active and inactive conformations to regulate a multitude of intracellular signaling cascades. Important structural transitions occurring during this cycle have been characterized from extensive crystallographic studies. However, the link between observed conformations and the allosteric regulation of binding events at distal sites critical for signaling through G proteins remain unclear. Here we describe molecular dynamics simulations, bioinformatics analysis, and experimental mutagenesis that identifies residues involved in mediating the allosteric coupling of receptor, nucleotide, and helical domain interfaces of Gαi. Most notably, we predict and characterize novel allosteric decoupling mutants, which display enhanced helical domain opening, increased rates of nucleotide exchange, and constitutive activity in the absence of receptor activation. Collectively, our results provide a framework for explaining how binding events and mutations can alter internal dynamic couplings critical for G protein function. © 2016 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

F-BAR family proteins, emerging regulators for cell membrane dynamic changes-from structure to human diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Suxuan; Xiong, Xinyu; Zhao, Xianxian; Yang, Xiaofeng; Wang, Hong

2015-05-09

Eukaryotic cell membrane dynamics change in curvature during physiological and pathological processes. In the past ten years, a novel protein family, Fes/CIP4 homology-Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs (F-BAR) domain proteins, has been identified to be the most important coordinators in membrane curvature regulation. The F-BAR domain family is a member of the Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs (BAR) domain superfamily that is associated with dynamic changes in cell membrane. However, the molecular basis in membrane structure regulation and the biological functions of F-BAR protein are unclear. The pathophysiological role of F-BAR protein is unknown. This review summarizes the current understanding of structure and function in the BAR domain superfamily, classifies F-BAR family proteins into nine subfamilies based on domain structure, and characterizes F-BAR protein structure, domain interaction, and functional relevance. In general, F-BAR protein binds to cell membrane via F-BAR domain association with membrane phospholipids and initiates membrane curvature and scission via Src homology-3 (SH3) domain interaction with its partner proteins. This process causes membrane dynamic changes and leads to seven important cellular biological functions, which include endocytosis, phagocytosis, filopodium, lamellipodium, cytokinesis, adhesion, and podosome formation, via distinct signaling pathways determined by specific domain-binding partners. These cellular functions play important roles in many physiological and pathophysiological processes. We further summarize F-BAR protein expression and mutation changes observed in various diseases and developmental disorders. Considering the structure feature and functional implication of F-BAR proteins, we anticipate that F-BAR proteins modulate physiological and pathophysiological processes via transferring extracellular materials, regulating cell trafficking and mobility, presenting antigens, mediating extracellular matrix degradation, and transmitting

Determination of Dynamics of Plant Plasma Membrane Proteins with Fluorescence Recovery and Raster Image Correlation Spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Laňková, Martina; Humpolíčková, Jana; Vosolsobě, Stanislav; Cit, Zdeněk; Lacek, Jozef; Čovan, Martin; Čovanová, Milada; Hof, Martin; Petrášek, Jan

2016-04-01

A number of fluorescence microscopy techniques are described to study dynamics of fluorescently labeled proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and whole organelles. However, for studies of plant plasma membrane (PM) proteins, the number of these techniques is still limited because of the high complexity of processes that determine the dynamics of PM proteins and the existence of cell wall. Here, we report on the usage of raster image correlation spectroscopy (RICS) for studies of integral PM proteins in suspension-cultured tobacco cells and show its potential in comparison with the more widely used fluorescence recovery after photobleaching method. For RICS, a set of microscopy images is obtained by single-photon confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Fluorescence fluctuations are subsequently correlated between individual pixels and the information on protein mobility are extracted using a model that considers processes generating the fluctuations such as diffusion and chemical binding reactions. As we show here using an example of two integral PM transporters of the plant hormone auxin, RICS uncovered their distinct short-distance lateral mobility within the PM that is dependent on cytoskeleton and sterol composition of the PM. RICS, which is routinely accessible on modern CLSM instruments, thus represents a valuable approach for studies of dynamics of PM proteins in plants.

Gcn4-Mediator Specificity Is Mediated by a Large and Dynamic Fuzzy Protein-Protein Complex

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Lisa M. Tuttle

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Summary: Transcription activation domains (ADs are inherently disordered proteins that often target multiple coactivator complexes, but the specificity of these interactions is not understood. Efficient transcription activation by yeast Gcn4 requires its tandem ADs and four activator-binding domains (ABDs on its target, the Mediator subunit Med15. Multiple ABDs are a common feature of coactivator complexes. We find that the large Gcn4-Med15 complex is heterogeneous and contains nearly all possible AD-ABD interactions. Gcn4-Med15 forms via a dynamic fuzzy protein-protein interface, where ADs bind the ABDs in multiple orientations via hydrophobic regions that gain helicity. This combinatorial mechanism allows individual low-affinity and specificity interactions to generate a biologically functional, specific, and higher affinity complex despite lacking a defined protein-protein interface. This binding strategy is likely representative of many activators that target multiple coactivators, as it allows great flexibility in combinations of activators that can cooperate to regulate genes with variable coactivator requirements. : Tuttle et al. report a “fuzzy free-for-all” interaction mechanism that explains how seemingly unrelated transcription activators converge on a limited number of coactivator targets. The mechanism provides a rationale for the observation that individually weak and low-specificity interactions can combine to produce biologically critical function without requiring highly ordered structure. Keywords: transcription activation, intrinsically disordered proteins, fuzzy binding

Intramolecular three-colour single pair FRET of intrinsically disordered proteins with increased dynamic range.

Science.gov (United States)

Milles, Sigrid; Koehler, Christine; Gambin, Yann; Deniz, Ashok A; Lemke, Edward A

2012-10-01

Single molecule observation of fluorescence resonance energy transfer can be used to provide insight into the structure and dynamics of proteins. Using a straightforward triple-colour labelling strategy, we present a measurement and analysis scheme that can simultaneously study multiple regions within single intrinsically disordered proteins.

Polyubiquitin chain assembly and organisation determine the dynamics of protein activation and degradation

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Lan K. Nguyen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Protein degradation via ubiquitination is a major proteolytic mechanism in cells. Once a protein is destined for degradation, it is tagged by multiple ubiquitin molecules. The synthesised polyubiquitin chains can be recognised by the 26S proteosome where proteins are degraded. These chains form through multiple ubiquitination cycles that are similar to multi-site phosphorylation cycles. As kinases and phosphatases, two opposing enzymes (E3 ligases and deubiquitinases DUBs catalyse (deubiquitination cycles. Although multi-ubiquitination cycles are fundamental mechanisms of controlling protein concentrations within a cell, their dynamics have never been explored. Here, we fill this knowledge gap. We show that under permissive physiological conditions, the formation of polyubiquitin chain of length greater than two and subsequent degradation of the ubiquitinated protein, which is balanced by protein synthesis, can display bistable, switch-like responses. Interestingly, the occurrence of bistability becomes pronounced, as the chain grows, giving rise to all-or-none regulation at the protein levels. We give predictions of protein distributions under bistable regime awaiting experimental verification. Importantly, we show for the first time that sustained oscillations can robustly arise in the process of formation of ubiquitin chain, largely due to the degradation of the target protein. This new feature is opposite to the properties of multi-site phosphorylation cycles, which are incapable of generating oscillation if the total abundance of interconverted protein forms is conserved. We derive structural and kinetic constraints for the emergence of oscillations, indicating that a competition between different substrate forms and the E3 and DUB is critical for oscillation. Our work provides the first detailed elucidation of the dynamical features brought about by different molecular setups of the polyubiquitin chain assembly process responsible for

Short-Range Electron Transfer in Reduced Flavodoxin: Ultrafast Nonequilibrium Dynamics Coupled with Protein Fluctuations.

Science.gov (United States)

Kundu, Mainak; He, Ting-Fang; Lu, Yangyi; Wang, Lijuan; Zhong, Dongping

2018-05-03

Short-range electron transfer (ET) in proteins is an ultrafast process on the similar timescales as local protein-solvent fluctuations thus the two dynamics are coupled. Here, we use semiquinone flavodoxin and systematically characterized the photoinduced redox cycle with eleven mutations of different aromatic electron donors (tryptophan and tyrosine) and local residues to change redox properties. We observed the forward and backward ET dynamics in a few picoseconds, strongly following a stretched behavior resulting from a coupling between local environment relaxations and these ET processes. We further observed the hot vibrational-state formation through charge recombination and the subsequent cooling dynamics also in a few picoseconds. Combined with the ET studies in oxidized flavodoxin, these results coherently reveal the evolution of the ET dynamics from single to stretched exponential behaviors and thus elucidate critical timescales for the coupling. The observed hot vibration-state formation is robust and should be considered in all photoinduced back ET processes in flavoproteins.

The investigation of tethered satellite system dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenzini, E. C.

1986-01-01

The analysis of the rotational dynamics of the satellite was focused on the rotational amplitude increase of the satellite, with respect to the tether, during retrieval. The dependence of the rotational amplitude upon the tether tension variation to the power 1/4 was thoroughly investigated. The damping of rotational oscillations achievable by reel control was also quantified while an alternative solution that makes use of a lever arm attached with a universal joint to the satellite was proposed. Comparison simulations between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Martin Marietta (MMA) computer code of reteival maneuvers were also carried out. The agreement between the two, completely independent, codes was extremely close, demonstrating the reliability of the models. The slack tether dynamics during reel jams was analytically investigated in order to identify the limits of applicability of the SLACK3 computer code to this particular case. Test runs with SLACK3 were also carried out.

The Folding of de Novo Designed Protein DS119 via Molecular Dynamics Simulations

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Moye Wang

2016-04-01

Full Text Available As they are not subjected to natural selection process, de novo designed proteins usually fold in a manner different from natural proteins. Recently, a de novo designed mini-protein DS119, with a βαβ motif and 36 amino acids, has folded unusually slowly in experiments, and transient dimers have been detected in the folding process. Here, by means of all-atom replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD simulations, several comparably stable intermediate states were observed on the folding free-energy landscape of DS119. Conventional molecular dynamics (CMD simulations showed that when two unfolded DS119 proteins bound together, most binding sites of dimeric aggregates were located at the N-terminal segment, especially residues 5–10, which were supposed to form β-sheet with its own C-terminal segment. Furthermore, a large percentage of individual proteins in the dimeric aggregates adopted conformations similar to those in the intermediate states observed in REMD simulations. These results indicate that, during the folding process, DS119 can easily become trapped in intermediate states. Then, with diffusion, a transient dimer would be formed and stabilized with the binding interface located at N-terminals. This means that it could not quickly fold to the native structure. The complicated folding manner of DS119 implies the important influence of natural selection on protein-folding kinetics, and more improvement should be achieved in rational protein design.

Live Cell Imaging During Germination Reveals Dynamic Tubular Structures Derived from Protein Storage Vacuoles of Barley Aleurone Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Verena Ibl

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The germination of cereal seeds is a rapid developmental process in which the endomembrane system undergoes a series of dynamic morphological changes to mobilize storage compounds. The changing ultrastructure of protein storage vacuoles (PSVs in the cells of the aleurone layer has been investigated in the past, but generally this involved inferences drawn from static pictures representing different developmental stages. We used live cell imaging in transgenic barley plants expressing a TIP3-GFP fusion protein as a fluorescent PSV marker to follow in real time the spatially and temporally regulated remodeling and reshaping of PSVs during germination. During late-stage germination, we observed thin, tubular structures extending from PSVs in an actin-dependent manner. No extensions were detected following the disruption of actin microfilaments, while microtubules did not appear to be involved in the process. The previously-undetected tubular PSV structures were characterized by complex movements, fusion events and a dynamic morphology. Their function during germination remains unknown, but might be related to the transport of solutes and metabolites.

Micro- and nanoscale devices for the investigation of epigenetics and chromatin dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Aguilar, Carlos A.; Craighead, Harold G.

2013-10-01

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the blueprint on which life is based and transmitted, but the way in which chromatin -- a dynamic complex of nucleic acids and proteins -- is packaged and behaves in the cellular nucleus has only begun to be investigated. Epigenetic modifications sit 'on top of' the genome and affect how DNA is compacted into chromatin and transcribed into ribonucleic acid (RNA). The packaging and modifications around the genome have been shown to exert significant influence on cellular behaviour and, in turn, human development and disease. However, conventional techniques for studying epigenetic or conformational modifications of chromosomes have inherent limitations and, therefore, new methods based on micro- and nanoscale devices have been sought. Here, we review the development of these devices and explore their use in the study of DNA modifications, chromatin modifications and higher-order chromatin structures.

Mechanism of mRNA-STAR domain interaction: Molecular dynamics simulations of Mammalian Quaking STAR protein.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Monika; Anirudh, C R

2017-10-03

STAR proteins are evolutionary conserved mRNA-binding proteins that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression at all stages of RNA metabolism. These proteins possess conserved STAR domain that recognizes identical RNA regulatory elements as YUAAY. Recently reported crystal structures show that STAR domain is composed of N-terminal QUA1, K-homology domain (KH) and C-terminal QUA2, and mRNA binding is mediated by KH-QUA2 domain. Here, we present simulation studies done to investigate binding of mRNA to STAR protein, mammalian Quaking protein (QKI). We carried out conventional MD simulations of STAR domain in presence and absence of mRNA, and studied the impact of mRNA on the stability, dynamics and underlying allosteric mechanism of STAR domain. Our unbiased simulations results show that presence of mRNA stabilizes the overall STAR domain by reducing the structural deviations, correlating the 'within-domain' motions, and maintaining the native contacts information. Absence of mRNA not only influenced the essential modes of motion of STAR domain, but also affected the connectivity of networks within STAR domain. We further explored the dissociation of mRNA from STAR domain using umbrella sampling simulations, and the results suggest that mRNA binding to STAR domain occurs in multi-step: first conformational selection of mRNA backbone conformations, followed by induced fit mechanism as nucleobases interact with STAR domain.

Protein structural dynamics at the gas/water interface examined by hydrogen exchange mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Yiming; Konermann, Lars

2015-08-01

Gas/water interfaces (such as air bubbles or foam) are detrimental to the stability of proteins, often causing aggregation. This represents a potential problem for industrial processes, for example, the production and handling of protein drugs. Proteins possess surfactant-like properties, resulting in a high affinity for gas/water interfaces. The tendency of previously buried nonpolar residues to maximize contact with the gas phase can cause significant structural distortion. Most earlier studies in this area employed spectroscopic tools that could only provide limited information. Here we use hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX) mass spectrometry (MS) for probing the conformational dynamics of the model protein myoglobin (Mb) in the presence of N(2) bubbles. HDX/MS relies on the principle that unfolded and/or highly dynamic regions undergo faster deuteration than tightly folded segments. In bubble-free solution Mb displays EX2 behavior, reflecting the occurrence of short-lived excursions to partially unfolded conformers. A dramatically different behavior is seen in the presence of N(2) bubbles; EX2 dynamics still take place, but in addition the protein shows EX1 behavior. The latter results from interconversion of the native state with conformers that are globally unfolded and long-lived. These unfolded species likely correspond to Mb that is adsorbed to the surface of gas bubbles. N(2) sparging also induces aggregation. To explain the observed behavior we propose a simple model, that is, "semi-unfolded" ↔ "native" ↔ "globally unfolded" → "aggregated". This model quantitatively reproduces the experimentally observed kinetics. To the best of our knowledge, the current study marks the first exploration of surface denaturation phenomena by HDX/MS. © 2015 The Protein Society.

Structure and Dynamics of Urea/Water Mixtures Investigated by Vibrational Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Carr, J. K.; Buchanan, L. E.; Schmidt, J. R.; Zanni, M. T.; Skinner, J. L.

2013-01-01

Urea/water is an archetypical “biological” mixture, and is especially well known for its relevance to protein thermodynamics, as urea acts as a protein denaturant at high concentration. This behavior has given rise to an extended debate concerning urea’s influence on water structure. Based on a variety of methods and of definitions of water structure, urea has been variously described as a structure-breaker, a structure-maker, or as remarkably neutral towards water. Because of its sensitivity to microscopic structure and dynamics, vibrational spectroscopy can help resolve these debates. We report experimental and theoretical spectroscopic results for the OD stretch of HOD/H2O/urea mixtures (linear IR, 2DIR, and pump-probe anisotropy decay) and for the CO stretch of urea-D4/D2O mixtures (linear IR only). Theoretical results are obtained using existing approaches for water, and a modification of a frequency map developed for acetamide. All absorption spectra are remarkably insensitive to urea concentration, consistent with the idea that urea only very weakly perturbs water structure. Both this work and experiments by Rezus and Bakker, however, show that water’s rotational dynamics are slowed down by urea. Analysis of the simulations casts doubt on the suggestion that urea immobilizes particular doubly hydrogen bonded water molecules. PMID:23841646

New experimental approaches to investigate the fission dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Benlliure, J., E-mail: j.benlliure@usc.es; Rodríguez-Sánchez, J. L.; Alvarez-Pol, H.; Ayyad, Y.; Cortina-Gil, D.; Paradela, C.; Pietras, B.; Ramos, D.; Vargas, J. [Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela (Spain); Audouin, L.; Boutoux, G. [Institut de Physique Nucléaire d’Orsay, F-91406 Orsay (France); Bélier, G.; Chatillon, A.; Gorbinet, T.; Laurent, B.; Martin, J.-F.; Pellereau, E.; Taïeb, J. [CEA, DAM, DIF, F-91297 Arpajon (France); Casarejos, E. [Universidad de Vigo, E-36200 Vigo (Spain); Heinz, A. [Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg (Sweden); and others

2016-07-07

The first ever achieved full identification of both fission fragments, in atomic and mass number, made it possible to define new observables sensitive to the fission dynamics along the fission path up to the scission point. Moreover, proton-induced fission of {sup 208}Pb at high energies offers optimal conditions for the investigation of dissipative, and transient effects, because of the high-excitation energy of the fissioning nuclei, its low angular momentum, and limited shape distortion by the reaction. In this work we show that the charge distribution of the final fission fragments can constrain the ground-to-saddle dynamics while the mass distribution is sensitive to the dynamics until the scission point.

Investigation on the turnover of plant proteins. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, R.; Winkler, E.; Jung, K.; Huebner, G.

1981-01-01

Based on kinetic analyses of amino acid and protein turnover by means of compartment models the synthesis and degradation of the soluble proteins in etiolated epicotyl segments of Pisum sativum L. as well as their dependence on the herbicide 2'-methyl-4'-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) were determined quantitatively. The segments were incubated for 10 h in a medium containing 14 C-leucine and subsequently placed in an inactive medium. The radioactivity in the soluble proteins and in the amino acid fraction was followed up for a total of 24 h. A 3-pool model in which the total measurable amino acid pool was divided into a direct precursor pool for protein synthesis and into a degradation pool was best suited to interpret the data. The turnover rate for the soluble proteins of untreated epicotyl segments was determined to be 0.058 h -1 ; at an MCPA concentration of 10 -4 M this value was nearly doubled. An increased proteolytic activity in the epicotyl segments ran parallel to the change of the turnover rate in dependence on MCPA concentration. The heterogeneity of the soluble protein with respect to the turnover rate was investigated by means of 3 H/ 14 C double labelling for individual protein fractions separated by gel electrophoresis. The results obtained in this way were comparable with those of the total pool turnover. (author)

Molecular dynamics simulations of the Nip7 proteins from the marine deep- and shallow-water Pyrococcus species.

Science.gov (United States)

Medvedev, Kirill E; Alemasov, Nikolay A; Vorobjev, Yuri N; Boldyreva, Elena V; Kolchanov, Nikolay A; Afonnikov, Dmitry A

2014-10-15

The identification of the mechanisms of adaptation of protein structures to extreme environmental conditions is a challenging task of structural biology. We performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the Nip7 protein involved in RNA processing from the shallow-water (P. furiosus) and the deep-water (P. abyssi) marine hyperthermophylic archaea at different temperatures (300 and 373 K) and pressures (0.1, 50 and 100 MPa). The aim was to disclose similarities and differences between the deep- and shallow-sea protein models at different temperatures and pressures. The current results demonstrate that the 3D models of the two proteins at all the examined values of pressures and temperatures are compact, stable and similar to the known crystal structure of the P. abyssi Nip7. The structural deviations and fluctuations in the polypeptide chain during the MD simulations were the most pronounced in the loop regions, their magnitude being larger for the C-terminal domain in both proteins. A number of highly mobile segments the protein globule presumably involved in protein-protein interactions were identified. Regions of the polypeptide chain with significant difference in conformational dynamics between the deep- and shallow-water proteins were identified. The results of our analysis demonstrated that in the examined ranges of temperatures and pressures, increase in temperature has a stronger effect on change in the dynamic properties of the protein globule than the increase in pressure. The conformational changes of both the deep- and shallow-sea protein models under increasing temperature and pressure are non-uniform. Our current results indicate that amino acid substitutions between shallow- and deep-water proteins only slightly affect overall stability of two proteins. Rather, they may affect the interactions of the Nip7 protein with its protein or RNA partners.

Reduced Insulin/IGF-1 Signaling Restores the Dynamic Properties of Key Stress Granule Proteins during Aging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie C. Lechler

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Summary: Low-complexity “prion-like” domains in key RNA-binding proteins (RBPs mediate the reversible assembly of RNA granules. Individual RBPs harboring these domains have been linked to specific neurodegenerative diseases. Although their aggregation in neurodegeneration has been extensively characterized, it remains unknown how the process of aging disturbs RBP dynamics. We show that a wide variety of RNA granule components, including stress granule proteins, become highly insoluble with age in C. elegans and that reduced insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1 daf-2 receptor signaling efficiently prevents their aggregation. Importantly, stress-granule-related RBP aggregates are associated with reduced fitness. We show that heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF-1 is a main regulator of stress-granule-related RBP aggregation in both young and aged animals. During aging, increasing DAF-16 activity restores dynamic stress-granule-related RBPs, partly by decreasing the buildup of other misfolded proteins that seed RBP aggregation. Longevity-associated mechanisms found to maintain dynamic RBPs during aging could be relevant for neurodegenerative diseases. : Lechler et al. show that RNA-binding proteins (RBPs including stress granule proteins are prone to aggregate with age in C. elegans. Aggregation of stress granule RBPs with “prion-like” domains is associated with reduced fitness. Their aggregation is prevented by longevity pathways and promoted by the aggregation of other misfolded proteins. Keywords: neurodegenerative diseases, Caenorhabditis elegans, protein aggregation, aging, RNA-binding proteins, stress granules, HSF-1, DAF-2, longevity

Investigating the Dynamics of Suicidal Ideation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallensleben, Nina; Spangenberg, Lena; Forkmann, Thomas; Rath, Dajana; Hegerl, Ulrich; Kersting, Anette; Kallert, Thomas W; Glaesmer, Heide

2018-01-01

Although the fluctuating nature of suicidal ideation (SI) has been described previously, longitudinal studies investigating the dynamics of SI are scarce. To demonstrate the fluctuation of SI across 6 days and up to 60 measurement points using smartphone-based ecological momentary assessments (EMA). Twenty inpatients with unipolar depression and current and/or lifetime suicidal ideation rated their momentary SI 10 times per day over a 6-day period. Mean squared successive difference (MSSD) was calculated as a measure of variability. Correlations of MSSD with severity of depression, number of previous depressive episodes, and history of suicidal behavior were examined. Individual trajectories of SI are shown to illustrate fluctuation. MSSD values ranged from 0.2 to 21.7. No significant correlations of MSSD with several clinical parameters were found, but there are hints of associations between fluctuation of SI and severity of depression and suicidality. Main limitation of this study is the small sample size leading to low power and probably missing potential effects. Further research with larger samples is necessary to shed light on the dynamics of SI. The results illustrate the dynamic nature and the diversity of trajectories of SI across 6 days in psychiatric inpatients with unipolar depression. Prediction of the fluctuation of SI might be of high clinical relevance. Further research using EMA and sophisticated analyses with larger samples is necessary to shed light on the dynamics of SI.

Process dynamics, advantage and difficulties of investigations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oude-Hengel, H.H.; Geigle, F.W.; Drucks, G.

1974-01-01

Process models, amongst other things, are designed to inform about stressability of power plants. This paper introduces some of the most important models and assesses them. Mathematical results concerning a turbine trip incident are made clear. Finally some of the problems are dealt with which occur while investigating process dynamics. (orig./RW) [de

How does the antagonism between capping and anti-capping proteins affect actin network dynamics?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Longhua; Papoian, Garegin A

2011-01-01

Actin-based cell motility is essential to many biological processes. We built a simplified, three-dimensional computational model and subsequently performed stochastic simulations to study the growth dynamics of lamellipodia-like branched networks. In this work, we shed light on the antagonism between capping and anti-capping proteins in regulating actin dynamics in the filamentous network. We discuss detailed mechanisms by which capping and anti-capping proteins affect the protrusion speed of the actin network and the rate of nucleation of filaments. We computed a phase diagram showing the regimes of motility enhancement and inhibition by these proteins. Our work shows that the effects of capping and anti-capping proteins are mainly transmitted by modulation of the filamentous network density and local availability of monomeric actin. We discovered that the combination of the capping/anti-capping regulatory network with nucleation-promoting proteins introduces robustness and redundancy in cell motility machinery, allowing the cell to easily achieve maximal protrusion speeds under a broader set of conditions. Finally, we discuss distributions of filament lengths under various conditions and speculate on their potential implication for the emergence of filopodia from the lamellipodial network.

Studying protein assembly with reversible Brownian dynamics of patchy particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klein, Heinrich C. R.; Schwarz, Ulrich S.

2014-01-01

Assembly of protein complexes like virus shells, the centriole, the nuclear pore complex, or the actin cytoskeleton is strongly determined by their spatial structure. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly clear that the reversible nature of protein assembly is also an essential element for their biological function. Here we introduce a computational approach for the Brownian dynamics of patchy particles with anisotropic assemblies and fully reversible reactions. Different particles stochastically associate and dissociate with microscopic reaction rates depending on their relative spatial positions. The translational and rotational diffusive properties of all protein complexes are evaluated on-the-fly. Because we focus on reversible assembly, we introduce a scheme which ensures detailed balance for patchy particles. We then show how the macroscopic rates follow from the microscopic ones. As an instructive example, we study the assembly of a pentameric ring structure, for which we find excellent agreement between simulation results and a macroscopic kinetic description without any adjustable parameters. This demonstrates that our approach correctly accounts for both the diffusive and reactive processes involved in protein assembly

Studying protein assembly with reversible Brownian dynamics of patchy particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klein, Heinrich C. R. [Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Schwarz, Ulrich S., E-mail: ulrich.schwarz@bioquant.uni-heidelberg.de [Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); BioQuant, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany)

2014-05-14

Assembly of protein complexes like virus shells, the centriole, the nuclear pore complex, or the actin cytoskeleton is strongly determined by their spatial structure. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly clear that the reversible nature of protein assembly is also an essential element for their biological function. Here we introduce a computational approach for the Brownian dynamics of patchy particles with anisotropic assemblies and fully reversible reactions. Different particles stochastically associate and dissociate with microscopic reaction rates depending on their relative spatial positions. The translational and rotational diffusive properties of all protein complexes are evaluated on-the-fly. Because we focus on reversible assembly, we introduce a scheme which ensures detailed balance for patchy particles. We then show how the macroscopic rates follow from the microscopic ones. As an instructive example, we study the assembly of a pentameric ring structure, for which we find excellent agreement between simulation results and a macroscopic kinetic description without any adjustable parameters. This demonstrates that our approach correctly accounts for both the diffusive and reactive processes involved in protein assembly.

Plastic protein microarray to investigate the molecular pathways of magnetic nanoparticle-induced nanotoxicity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yingshuai; Li Xuelian; Bao Shujuan; Lu Zhisong; Li Changming; Li Qing

2013-01-01

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) (about 15 nm) were synthesized via a hydrothermal method and characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, x-ray diffraction, and vibrating sample magnetometer. The molecular pathways of SPIONs-induced nanotoxicity was further investigated by protein microarrays on a plastic substrate from evaluation of cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and cell apoptosis. The experimental results reveal that 50 μg ml −1 or higher levels of SPIONs cause significant loss of cell viability, considerable generation of ROS and cell apoptosis. It is proposed that high level SPIONs could induce cell apoptosis via a mitochondria-mediated intrinsic pathway by activation of caspase 9 and caspase 3, an increase of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, and down-regulation of HSP70 and HSP90 survivor factors. (paper)

Plastic protein microarray to investigate the molecular pathways of magnetic nanoparticle-induced nanotoxicity

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yingshuai; Li, Xuelian; Bao, Shujuan; Lu, Zhisong; Li, Qing; Li, Chang Ming

2013-05-01

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) (about 15 nm) were synthesized via a hydrothermal method and characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, x-ray diffraction, and vibrating sample magnetometer. The molecular pathways of SPIONs-induced nanotoxicity was further investigated by protein microarrays on a plastic substrate from evaluation of cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and cell apoptosis. The experimental results reveal that 50 μg ml-1 or higher levels of SPIONs cause significant loss of cell viability, considerable generation of ROS and cell apoptosis. It is proposed that high level SPIONs could induce cell apoptosis via a mitochondria-mediated intrinsic pathway by activation of caspase 9 and caspase 3, an increase of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, and down-regulation of HSP70 and HSP90 survivor factors.

Protein dynamics revealed in the excitonic spectra of single LH2 complexes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valkunas, Leonas; Janusonis, Julius; Rutkauskas, Danielis; Grondelle, Rienk van

2007-01-01

The fluorescence emission spectrum of single peripheral light-harvesting (LH2) complexes of the photosynthetic purple bacterium Rhodopseudomonas acidophila exhibits remarkable dynamics on a time scale of several minutes. Often the spectral properties are quasi-stable; sometimes large spectral jumps to the blue or to the red are observed. To explain the dynamics, every pigment is proposed to be in two conformational substates with different excitation energies, which originate from the conformational state of the protein as a result of pigment-protein interaction. Due to the excitonic coupling in the ring of 18 pigments, the two-state assumption generates a substantial amount of distinct spectroscopic states, which reflect part of the inhomogeneous distributed spectral properties of LH2. To describe the observed dynamics, spontaneous and light-induced transitions are introduced between the two states. For each 'realization of the disorder', the spectral properties are calculated using a disordered exciton model combined with the modified Redfield theory to obtain realistic spectral line shapes. The single-molecule fluorescence peak (FLP) distribution, the distribution dependence on the excitation intensity, and the FLP time traces are well described within the framework of this model

Interpretation of NMR relaxation properties of Pin1, a two-domain protein, based on Brownian dynamic simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernado, Pau; Fernandes, Miguel X.; Jacobs, Doris M.; Fiebig, Klaus; Garcia de la Torre, Jose; Pons, Miquel

2004-01-01

Many important proteins contain multiple domains connected by flexible linkers. Inter-domain motion is suggested to play a key role in many processes involving molecular recognition. Heteronuclear NMR relaxation is sensitive to motions in the relevant time scales and could provide valuable information on the dynamics of multi-domain proteins. However, the standard analysis based on the separation of global tumbling and fast local motions is no longer valid for multi-domain proteins undergoing internal motions involving complete domains and that take place on the same time scale than the overall motion.The complexity of the motions experienced even for the simplest two-domain proteins are difficult to capture with simple extensions of the classical Lipari-Szabo approach. Hydrodynamic effects are expected to dominate the motion of the individual globular domains, as well as that of the complete protein. Using Pin1 as a test case, we have simulated its motion at the microsecond time scale, at a reasonable computational expense, using Brownian Dynamic simulations on simplified models. The resulting trajectories provide insight on the interplay between global and inter-domain motion and can be analyzed using the recently published method of isotropic Reorientational Mode Dynamics which offer a way of calculating their contribution to heteronuclear relaxation rates. The analysis of trajectories computed with Pin1 models of different flexibility provides a general framework to understand the dynamics of multi-domain proteins and explains some of the observed features in the relaxation rate profile of free Pin1

Interpretation of NMR relaxation properties of Pin1, a two-domain protein, based on Brownian dynamic simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bernado, Pau [Institut de Biologie Structurale, Jean Pierre Ebel (France); Fernandes, Miguel X. [Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Quimica Fisica, Facultad de Quimica (Spain); Jacobs, Doris M. [Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt, Institut fuer Organische Chemie und Chemische Biologie (Germany); Fiebig, Klaus [Affinium Pharmaceuticals (Canada); Garcia de la Torre, Jose [Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Quimica Fisica, Facultad de Quimica (Spain); Pons, Miquel [Laboratori de RMN de Biomolecules, Parc Cientific de Barcelona (Spain)], E-mail: mpons@ub.edu

2004-05-15

Many important proteins contain multiple domains connected by flexible linkers. Inter-domain motion is suggested to play a key role in many processes involving molecular recognition. Heteronuclear NMR relaxation is sensitive to motions in the relevant time scales and could provide valuable information on the dynamics of multi-domain proteins. However, the standard analysis based on the separation of global tumbling and fast local motions is no longer valid for multi-domain proteins undergoing internal motions involving complete domains and that take place on the same time scale than the overall motion.The complexity of the motions experienced even for the simplest two-domain proteins are difficult to capture with simple extensions of the classical Lipari-Szabo approach. Hydrodynamic effects are expected to dominate the motion of the individual globular domains, as well as that of the complete protein. Using Pin1 as a test case, we have simulated its motion at the microsecond time scale, at a reasonable computational expense, using Brownian Dynamic simulations on simplified models. The resulting trajectories provide insight on the interplay between global and inter-domain motion and can be analyzed using the recently published method of isotropic Reorientational Mode Dynamics which offer a way of calculating their contribution to heteronuclear relaxation rates. The analysis of trajectories computed with Pin1 models of different flexibility provides a general framework to understand the dynamics of multi-domain proteins and explains some of the observed features in the relaxation rate profile of free Pin1.

Monitoring Replication Protein A (RPA) dynamics in homologous recombination through site-specific incorporation of non-canonical amino acids.

Science.gov (United States)

Pokhrel, Nilisha; Origanti, Sofia; Davenport, Eric Parker; Gandhi, Disha; Kaniecki, Kyle; Mehl, Ryan A; Greene, Eric C; Dockendorff, Chris; Antony, Edwin

2017-09-19

An essential coordinator of all DNA metabolic processes is Replication Protein A (RPA). RPA orchestrates these processes by binding to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and interacting with several other DNA binding proteins. Determining the real-time kinetics of single players such as RPA in the presence of multiple DNA processors to better understand the associated mechanistic events is technically challenging. To overcome this hurdle, we utilized non-canonical amino acids and bio-orthogonal chemistry to site-specifically incorporate a chemical fluorophore onto a single subunit of heterotrimeric RPA. Upon binding to ssDNA, this fluorescent RPA (RPAf) generates a quantifiable change in fluorescence, thus serving as a reporter of its dynamics on DNA in the presence of multiple other DNA binding proteins. Using RPAf, we describe the kinetics of facilitated self-exchange and exchange by Rad51 and mediator proteins during various stages in homologous recombination. RPAf is widely applicable to investigate its mechanism of action in processes such as DNA replication, repair and telomere maintenance. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Dynamics and Predictive Potential of Antibodies against Insect-Derived Recombinant Leishmania infantum Proteins during Chemotherapy of Naturally Infected Dogs

Science.gov (United States)

Todolí, Felicitat; Galindo, Inmaculada; Gómez-Sebastián, Silvia; Pérez-Filgueira, Mariano; Escribano, José M.; Alberola, Jordi; Rodríguez-Cortés, Alhelí

2010-01-01

A predictive marker for the success treatment of canine leishmaniasis is required for the application of a more rational therapy protocol, which must improve the probability of cure and reduce Leishmania resistance to drugs. We investigated the dynamics and predictive value of antibodies against insect-derived recombinant L. infantum proteins rKMPII and rTRYP by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with retrospective serum samples from 36 dogs during treatment of canine leishmaniasis. In the entire group of dogs, concentrations of antibodies against rKMPII and rTRYP significantly decreased earlier than concentrations of antibodies against crude total Leishmania antigen (one versus six months), which suggested that the dynamics of antibodies against recombinant proteins may be useful for assessing clinical improvement after treatment. Interestingly, decreases in antibody concentrations against rKMPII occurred earlier in disease-free dogs than in dogs that remain clinically ill one year after beginning of treatment, which suggested that these antibodies may be useful for predicting disease-free survival one year after the beginning of therapy against canine leishmaniasis. PMID:20439957

A general theory of non-equilibrium dynamics of lipid-protein fluid membranes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lomholt, Michael Andersen; Hansen, Per Lyngs; Miao, L.

2005-01-01

We present a general and systematic theory of non-equilibrium dynamics of multi-component fluid membranes, in general, and membranes containing transmembrane proteins, in particular. Developed based on a minimal number of principles of statistical physics and designed to be a meso...

Thermal proximity coaggregation for system-wide profiling of protein complex dynamics in cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Chris Soon Heng; Go, Ka Diam; Bisteau, Xavier; Dai, Lingyun; Yong, Chern Han; Prabhu, Nayana; Ozturk, Mert Burak; Lim, Yan Ting; Sreekumar, Lekshmy; Lengqvist, Johan; Tergaonkar, Vinay; Kaldis, Philipp; Sobota, Radoslaw M; Nordlund, Pär

2018-03-09

Proteins differentially interact with each other across cellular states and conditions, but an efficient proteome-wide strategy to monitor them is lacking. We report the application of thermal proximity coaggregation (TPCA) for high-throughput intracellular monitoring of protein complex dynamics. Significant TPCA signatures observed among well-validated protein-protein interactions correlate positively with interaction stoichiometry and are statistically observable in more than 350 annotated human protein complexes. Using TPCA, we identified many complexes without detectable differential protein expression, including chromatin-associated complexes, modulated in S phase of the cell cycle. Comparison of six cell lines by TPCA revealed cell-specific interactions even in fundamental cellular processes. TPCA constitutes an approach for system-wide studies of protein complexes in nonengineered cells and tissues and might be used to identify protein complexes that are modulated in diseases. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Direct observation of TALE protein dynamics reveals a two-state search mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuculis, Luke; Abil, Zhanar; Zhao, Huimin; Schroeder, Charles M

2015-06-01

Transcription activator-like effector (TALE) proteins are a class of programmable DNA-binding proteins for which the fundamental mechanisms governing the search process are not fully understood. Here we use single-molecule techniques to directly observe TALE search dynamics along DNA templates. We find that TALE proteins are capable of rapid diffusion along DNA using a combination of sliding and hopping behaviour, which suggests that the TALE search process is governed in part by facilitated diffusion. We also observe that TALE proteins exhibit two distinct modes of action during the search process-a search state and a recognition state-facilitated by different subdomains in monomeric TALE proteins. Using TALE truncation mutants, we further demonstrate that the N-terminal region of TALEs is required for the initial non-specific binding and subsequent rapid search along DNA, whereas the central repeat domain is required for transitioning into the site-specific recognition state.

Toward the fourth dimension of membrane protein structure: insight into dynamics from spin-labeling EPR spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

McHaourab, Hassane S; Steed, P Ryan; Kazmier, Kelli

2011-11-09

Trapping membrane proteins in the confines of a crystal lattice obscures dynamic modes essential for interconversion between multiple conformations in the functional cycle. Moreover, lattice forces could conspire with detergent solubilization to stabilize a minor conformer in an ensemble thus confounding mechanistic interpretation. Spin labeling in conjunction with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy offers an exquisite window into membrane protein dynamics in the native-like environment of a lipid bilayer. Systematic application of spin labeling and EPR identifies sequence-specific secondary structures, defines their topology and their packing in the tertiary fold. Long range distance measurements (60 Å-80 Å) between pairs of spin labels enable quantitative analysis of equilibrium dynamics and triggered conformational changes. This review highlights the contribution of spin labeling to bridging structure and mechanism. Efforts to develop methods for determining structures from EPR restraints and to increase sensitivity and throughput promise to expand spin labeling applications in membrane protein structural biology. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparative Study of Elastic Network Model and Protein Contact Network for Protein Complexes: The Hemoglobin Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guang Hu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The overall topology and interfacial interactions play key roles in understanding structural and functional principles of protein complexes. Elastic Network Model (ENM and Protein Contact Network (PCN are two widely used methods for high throughput investigation of structures and interactions within protein complexes. In this work, the comparative analysis of ENM and PCN relative to hemoglobin (Hb was taken as case study. We examine four types of structural and dynamical paradigms, namely, conformational change between different states of Hbs, modular analysis, allosteric mechanisms studies, and interface characterization of an Hb. The comparative study shows that ENM has an advantage in studying dynamical properties and protein-protein interfaces, while PCN is better for describing protein structures quantitatively both from local and from global levels. We suggest that the integration of ENM and PCN would give a potential but powerful tool in structural systems biology.

Integration of Structural Dynamics and Molecular Evolution via Protein Interaction Networks: A New Era in Genomic Medicine

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Avishek; Butler, Brandon M.; Kumar, Sudhir; Ozkan, S. Banu

2016-01-01

Summary Sequencing technologies are revealing many new non-synonymous single nucleotide variants (nsSNVs) in each personal exome. To assess their functional impacts, comparative genomics is frequently employed to predict if they are benign or not. However, evolutionary analysis alone is insufficient, because it misdiagnoses many disease-associated nsSNVs, such as those at positions involved in protein interfaces, and because evolutionary predictions do not provide mechanistic insights into functional change or loss. Structural analyses can aid in overcoming both of these problems by incorporating conformational dynamics and allostery in nSNV diagnosis. Finally, protein-protein interaction networks using systems-level methodologies shed light onto disease etiology and pathogenesis. Bridging these network approaches with structurally resolved protein interactions and dynamics will advance genomic medicine. PMID:26684487

Mapping Protein-Protein Interactions by Quantitative Proteomics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dengjel, Joern; Kratchmarova, Irina; Blagoev, Blagoy

2010-01-01

spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics in combination with affinity purification protocols has become the method of choice to map and track the dynamic changes in protein-protein interactions, including the ones occurring during cellular signaling events. Different quantitative MS strategies have been used...... to characterize protein interaction networks. In this chapter we describe in detail the use of stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) for the quantitative analysis of stimulus-dependent dynamic protein interactions.......Proteins exert their function inside a cell generally in multiprotein complexes. These complexes are highly dynamic structures changing their composition over time and cell state. The same protein may thereby fulfill different functions depending on its binding partners. Quantitative mass...

Studying pressure denaturation of a protein by molecular dynamics simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarupria, Sapna; Ghosh, Tuhin; García, Angel E; Garde, Shekhar

2010-05-15

Many globular proteins unfold when subjected to several kilobars of hydrostatic pressure. This "unfolding-up-on-squeezing" is counter-intuitive in that one expects mechanical compression of proteins with increasing pressure. Molecular simulations have the potential to provide fundamental understanding of pressure effects on proteins. However, the slow kinetics of unfolding, especially at high pressures, eliminates the possibility of its direct observation by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Motivated by experimental results-that pressure denatured states are water-swollen, and theoretical results-that water transfer into hydrophobic contacts becomes favorable with increasing pressure, we employ a water insertion method to generate unfolded states of the protein Staphylococcal Nuclease (Snase). Structural characteristics of these unfolded states-their water-swollen nature, retention of secondary structure, and overall compactness-mimic those observed in experiments. Using conformations of folded and unfolded states, we calculate their partial molar volumes in MD simulations and estimate the pressure-dependent free energy of unfolding. The volume of unfolding of Snase is negative (approximately -60 mL/mol at 1 bar) and is relatively insensitive to pressure, leading to its unfolding in the pressure range of 1500-2000 bars. Interestingly, once the protein is sufficiently water swollen, the partial molar volume of the protein appears to be insensitive to further conformational expansion or unfolding. Specifically, water-swollen structures with relatively low radii of gyration have partial molar volume that are similar to that of significantly more unfolded states. We find that the compressibility change on unfolding is negligible, consistent with experiments. We also analyze hydration shell fluctuations to comment on the hydration contributions to protein compressibility. Our study demonstrates the utility of molecular simulations in estimating volumetric properties

Our interests in protein-protein interactions

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

protein interactions. Evolution of P-P partnerships. Evolution of P-P structures. Evolutionary dynamics of P-P interactions. Dynamics of P-P interaction network. Host-pathogen interactions. CryoEM mapping of gigantic protein assemblies.

Large-scale evaluation of dynamically important residues in proteins predicted by the perturbation analysis of a coarse-grained elastic model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tekpinar Mustafa

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Backgrounds It is increasingly recognized that protein functions often require intricate conformational dynamics, which involves a network of key amino acid residues that couple spatially separated functional sites. Tremendous efforts have been made to identify these key residues by experimental and computational means. Results We have performed a large-scale evaluation of the predictions of dynamically important residues by a variety of computational protocols including three based on the perturbation and correlation analysis of a coarse-grained elastic model. This study is performed for two lists of test cases with >500 pairs of protein structures. The dynamically important residues predicted by the perturbation and correlation analysis are found to be strongly or moderately conserved in >67% of test cases. They form a sparse network of residues which are clustered both in 3D space and along protein sequence. Their overall conservation is attributed to their dynamic role rather than ligand binding or high network connectivity. Conclusion By modeling how the protein structural fluctuations respond to residue-position-specific perturbations, our highly efficient perturbation and correlation analysis can be used to dissect the functional conformational changes in various proteins with a residue level of detail. The predictions of dynamically important residues serve as promising targets for mutational and functional studies.

Two-dimensional NMR and photo-CIDNP studies of the insulin monomer: Assignment of aromatic resonances with application to protein folding, structure, and dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weiss, M.A.; Shoelson, S.E.; Nguyen, D.T.; O'Shea, E.; Karplus, M.; Khait, I.; Neuringer, L.J.; Inouye, K.; Frank, B.H.; Beckage, M.

1989-01-01

The aromatic 1 H NMR resonances of the insulin monomer are assigned at 500 MHz by comparative studies of chemically modified and genetically altered variants, including a mutant insulin (PheB25 → Leu) associated with diabetes mellitus. The two histidines, three phenylalanines, and four tyrosines are observed to be in distinct local environments; their assignment provides sensitive markers for studies of tertiary structure, protein dynamics, and protein folding. The environments of the tyrosine residues have also been investigated by photochemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (photo-CIDNP) and analyzed in relation to packing constrains in the crystal structures of insulin. Dimerization involving specific B-chain interactions is observed with increasing protein concentration and is shown to depend on temperature, pH, and solvent composition. The differences between proinsulin and mini-proinsulin suggest a structural mechanism for the observation that the fully reduced B29-A1 analogue folds more efficiently than proinsulin to form the correct pattern of disulfide bonds. These results are discussed in relation to molecular mechanics calculations of insulin based on the available crystal structures

Multicompartment lipid cubic nanoparticles with high protein upload: millisecond dynamics of formation

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Angelov, Borislav; Angelova, A.; Filippov, Sergey K.; Drechsler, M.; Štěpánek, Petr; Lesieur, S.

2014-01-01

Roč. 8, č. 5 (2014), s. 5216-5226 ISSN 1936-0851 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP208/10/1600 Institutional support: RVO:61389013 Keywords : lipid- protein nanoassembly * dynamic membrane curvature * amphiphile nanoarchitectonics Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 12.881, year: 2014

A constitutively activating mutation alters the dynamics and energetics of a key conformational change in a ligand-free G protein-coupled receptor.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsukamoto, Hisao; Farrens, David L

2013-09-27

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) undergo dynamic transitions between active and inactive conformations. Usually, these conversions are triggered when the receptor detects an external signal, but some so-called constitutively activating mutations, or CAMs, induce a GPCR to bind and activate G proteins in the absence of external stimulation, in ways still not fully understood. Here, we investigated how a CAM alters the structure of a GPCR and the dynamics involved as the receptor transitions between different conformations. Our approach used site-directed fluorescence labeling (SDFL) spectroscopy to compare opsin, the ligand-free form of the GPCR rhodopsin, with opsin containing the CAM M257Y, focusing specifically on key movements that occur in the sixth transmembrane helix (TM6) during GPCR activation. The site-directed fluorescence labeling data indicate opsin is constrained to an inactive conformation both in detergent micelles and lipid membranes, but when it contains the M257Y CAM, opsin is more dynamic and can interact with a G protein mimetic. Further study of these receptors using tryptophan-induced quenching (TrIQ) methods indicates that in detergent, the CAM significantly increases the population of receptors in the active state, but not in lipids. Subsequent Arrhenius analysis of the TrIQ data suggests that, both in detergent and lipids, the CAM lowers the energy barrier for TM6 movement, a key transition required for conversion between the inactive and active conformations. Together, these data suggest that the lowered energy barrier is a primary effect of the CAM on the receptor dynamics and energetics.

Dynamic Programming Used to Align Protein Structures with a Spectrum Is Robust

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allen Holder

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Several efficient algorithms to conduct pairwise comparisons among large databases of protein structures have emerged in the recent literature. The central theme is the design of a measure between the Cα atoms of two protein chains, from which dynamic programming is used to compute an alignment. The efficiency and efficacy of these algorithms allows large-scale computational studies that would have been previously impractical. The computational study herein shows that the structural alignment algorithm eigen-decomposition alignment with the spectrum (EIGAs is robust against both parametric and structural variation.

Integration of structural dynamics and molecular evolution via protein interaction networks: a new era in genomic medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Avishek; Butler, Brandon M; Kumar, Sudhir; Ozkan, S Banu

2015-12-01

Sequencing technologies are revealing many new non-synonymous single nucleotide variants (nsSNVs) in each personal exome. To assess their functional impacts, comparative genomics is frequently employed to predict if they are benign or not. However, evolutionary analysis alone is insufficient, because it misdiagnoses many disease-associated nsSNVs, such as those at positions involved in protein interfaces, and because evolutionary predictions do not provide mechanistic insights into functional change or loss. Structural analyses can aid in overcoming both of these problems by incorporating conformational dynamics and allostery in nSNV diagnosis. Finally, protein-protein interaction networks using systems-level methodologies shed light onto disease etiology and pathogenesis. Bridging these network approaches with structurally resolved protein interactions and dynamics will advance genomic medicine. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The utilization of BSA-modified chip on the investigation of ligand ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administrator

2009-12-15

Dec 15, 2009 ... investigation of ligand/protein interaction with surface plasma resonance ... for immobilizing proteins or low-molecular-weight ligands to dextran ..... contamination in dynamic aqueous environments using optical sensors. Anal.

Dual time-resolved temperature-jump fluorescence and infrared spectroscopy for the study of fast protein dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Caitlin M; Reddish, Michael J; Dyer, R Brian

2017-05-05

Time-resolved temperature-jump (T-jump) coupled with fluorescence and infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a powerful technique for monitoring protein dynamics. Although IR spectroscopy of the polypeptide amide I mode is more technically challenging, it offers complementary information because it directly probes changes in the protein backbone, whereas, fluorescence spectroscopy is sensitive to the environment of specific side chains. With the advent of widely tunable quantum cascade lasers (QCL) it is possible to efficiently probe multiple IR frequencies with high sensitivity and reproducibility. Here we describe a dual time-resolved T-jump fluorescence and IR spectrometer and its application to study protein folding dynamics. A Q-switched Ho:YAG laser provides the T-jump source for both time-resolved IR and fluorescence spectroscopy, which are probed by a QCL and Ti:Sapphire laser, respectively. The Ho:YAG laser simultaneously pumps the time-resolved IR and fluorescence spectrometers. The instrument has high sensitivity, with an IR absorbance detection limit of jump induced difference spectrum from 50ns to 0.5ms. This study demonstrates the power of the dual time-resolved T-jump fluorescence and IR spectroscopy to resolve complex folding mechanisms by complementary IR absorbance and fluorescence measurements of protein dynamics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

UNRES server for physics-based coarse-grained simulations and prediction of protein structure, dynamics and thermodynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Czaplewski, Cezary; Karczynska, Agnieszka; Sieradzan, Adam K; Liwo, Adam

2018-04-30

A server implementation of the UNRES package (http://www.unres.pl) for coarse-grained simulations of protein structures with the physics-based UNRES model, coined a name UNRES server, is presented. In contrast to most of the protein coarse-grained models, owing to its physics-based origin, the UNRES force field can be used in simulations, including those aimed at protein-structure prediction, without ancillary information from structural databases; however, the implementation includes the possibility of using restraints. Local energy minimization, canonical molecular dynamics simulations, replica exchange and multiplexed replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations can be run with the current UNRES server; the latter are suitable for protein-structure prediction. The user-supplied input includes protein sequence and, optionally, restraints from secondary-structure prediction or small x-ray scattering data, and simulation type and parameters which are selected or typed in. Oligomeric proteins, as well as those containing D-amino-acid residues and disulfide links can be treated. The output is displayed graphically (minimized structures, trajectories, final models, analysis of trajectory/ensembles); however, all output files can be downloaded by the user. The UNRES server can be freely accessed at http://unres-server.chem.ug.edu.pl.

NMR Studies of Protein Hydration and Protein-Ligand Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Chong, Yuan

Water on the surface of a protein is called hydration water. Hydration water is known to play a crucial role in a variety of biological processes including protein folding, enzymatic activation, and drug binding. Although the significance of hydration water has been recognized, the underlying mechanism remains far from being understood. This dissertation employs a unique in-situ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique to study the mechanism of protein hydration and the role of hydration in alcohol-protein interactions. Water isotherms in proteins are measured at different temperatures via the in-situ NMR technique. Water is found to interact differently with hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups on the protein. Water adsorption on hydrophilic groups is hardly affected by the temperature, while water adsorption on hydrophobic groups strongly depends on the temperature around 10 C, below which the adsorption is substantially reduced. This effect is induced by the dramatic decrease in the protein flexibility below 10 C. Furthermore, nanosecond to microsecond protein dynamics and the free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of protein hydration are studied as a function of hydration level and temperature. A crossover at 10 C in protein dynamics and thermodynamics is revealed. The effect of water at hydrophilic groups on protein dynamics and thermodynamics shows little temperature dependence, whereas water at hydrophobic groups has stronger effect above 10 C. In addition, I investigate the role of water in alcohol binding to the protein using the in-situ NMR detection. The isotherms of alcohols are first measured on dry proteins, then on proteins with a series of controlled hydration levels. The free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of alcohol binding are also determined. Two distinct types of alcohol binding are identified. On the one hand, alcohols can directly bind to a few specific sites on the protein. This type of binding is independent of temperature and can be

A model for the dynamic nuclear/nucleolar/cytoplasmic trafficking of the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) nucleocapsid protein based on live cell imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

You, Jae-Hwan; Howell, Gareth; Pattnaik, Asit K.; Osorio, Fernando A.; Hiscox, Julian A.

2008-01-01

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), an arterivirus, in common with many other positive strand RNA viruses, encodes a nucleocapsid (N) protein which can localise not only to the cytoplasm but also to the nucleolus in virus-infected cells and cells over-expressing N protein. The dynamic trafficking of positive strand RNA virus nucleocapsid proteins and PRRSV N protein in particular between the cytoplasm and nucleolus is unknown. In this study live imaging of permissive and non-permissive cell lines, in conjunction with photo-bleaching (FRAP and FLIP), was used to investigate the trafficking of fluorescent labeled (EGFP) PRRSV-N protein. The data indicated that EGFP-PRRSV-N protein was not permanently sequestered to the nucleolus and had equivalent mobility to cellular nucleolar proteins. Further the nuclear import of N protein appeared to occur faster than nuclear export, which may account for the observed relative distribution of N protein between the cytoplasm and the nucleolus

Dynamics of proteins at low temperatures: fibrous vs. globular

Science.gov (United States)

Foucat, L.; Renou, J.-P.; Tengroth, C.; Janssen, S.; Middendorf, H. D.

We have measured quasielastic neutron scattering from H2O-hydrated collagen and haemoglobin at Tτ>10 ps. Relative to haemoglobin, the 200-K dynamic transition is shifted upward by 20-25 K in collagen, and the T-dependence of m.-sq. displacements derived from Sqe(Q;T) suggests that in triple-helical systems there are three rather than two regimes: one up to around 120K (probably purely harmonic), an intermediate quasiharmonic region with a linear dependence up to 240K, followed by a steeper nonlinear rise similar to that in globular proteins.

SU-E-J-61: Electrodynamics and Nano-Scale Fluid Dynamics in Protein Localization of Nuclear Pore Complexes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cunningham, J; Gatenby, R [Moffitt Cancer Research Institute, Tampa, FL (United States)

2014-06-01

Purpose: To develop a simulation to catalyze a reevaluation of common assumptions about 3 dimensional diffusive processes and help cell biologists gain a more nuanced, intuitive understanding of the true physical hurdles of protein signaling cascades. Furthermore, to discuss the possibility of intracellular electrodynamics as a critical, unrecognized component of cellular biology and protein dynamics that is necessary for optimal information flow from the cell membrane to the nucleus. Methods: The Unity 3D gaming physics engine was used to build an accurate virtual scale model of the cytoplasm within a few hundred nanometers of the nuclear membrane. A cloud of simulated pERK proteins is controlled by the physics simulation, where diffusion is based on experimentally measured values and the electrodynamics are based on theoretical nano-fluid dynamics. The trajectories of pERK within the cytoplasm and through the 1250 nuclear pores on the nuclear surface is recorded and analyzed. Results: The simulation quickly demonstrates that pERKs moving solely by diffusion will rarely locate and come within capture distance of a nuclear pore. The addition of intracellular electrodynamics between charges on the nuclear pore complexes and on pERKs increases the number of successful translocations by allowing the electro-physical attractive effects to draw in pERKs from the cytoplasm. The effects of changes in intracellular shielding ion concentrations allowed for estimation of the “capture radius” under varying conditions. Conclusion: The simulation allows a shift in perspective that is paramount in attempting to communicate the scale and dynamics of intracellular protein cascade mechanics. This work has allowed researchers to more fully understand the parameters involved in intracellular electrodynamics, such as shielding anion concentration and protein charge. As these effects are still far below the spatial resolution of currently available measurement technology this

SU-E-J-61: Electrodynamics and Nano-Scale Fluid Dynamics in Protein Localization of Nuclear Pore Complexes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cunningham, J; Gatenby, R

2014-01-01

Purpose: To develop a simulation to catalyze a reevaluation of common assumptions about 3 dimensional diffusive processes and help cell biologists gain a more nuanced, intuitive understanding of the true physical hurdles of protein signaling cascades. Furthermore, to discuss the possibility of intracellular electrodynamics as a critical, unrecognized component of cellular biology and protein dynamics that is necessary for optimal information flow from the cell membrane to the nucleus. Methods: The Unity 3D gaming physics engine was used to build an accurate virtual scale model of the cytoplasm within a few hundred nanometers of the nuclear membrane. A cloud of simulated pERK proteins is controlled by the physics simulation, where diffusion is based on experimentally measured values and the electrodynamics are based on theoretical nano-fluid dynamics. The trajectories of pERK within the cytoplasm and through the 1250 nuclear pores on the nuclear surface is recorded and analyzed. Results: The simulation quickly demonstrates that pERKs moving solely by diffusion will rarely locate and come within capture distance of a nuclear pore. The addition of intracellular electrodynamics between charges on the nuclear pore complexes and on pERKs increases the number of successful translocations by allowing the electro-physical attractive effects to draw in pERKs from the cytoplasm. The effects of changes in intracellular shielding ion concentrations allowed for estimation of the “capture radius” under varying conditions. Conclusion: The simulation allows a shift in perspective that is paramount in attempting to communicate the scale and dynamics of intracellular protein cascade mechanics. This work has allowed researchers to more fully understand the parameters involved in intracellular electrodynamics, such as shielding anion concentration and protein charge. As these effects are still far below the spatial resolution of currently available measurement technology this

An experimental and computational framework to build a dynamic protein atlas of human cell division

OpenAIRE

Kavur, Marina; Kavur, Marina; Kavur, Marina; Ellenberg, Jan; Peters, Jan-Michael; Ladurner, Rene; Martinic, Marina; Kueblbeck, Moritz; Nijmeijer, Bianca; Wachsmuth, Malte; Koch, Birgit; Walther, Nike; Politi, Antonio; Heriche, Jean-Karim; Hossain, M.

2017-01-01

Essential biological functions of human cells, such as division, require the tight coordination of the activity of hundreds of proteins in space and time. While live cell imaging is a powerful tool to study the distribution and dynamics of individual proteins after fluorescence tagging, it has not yet been used to map protein networks due to the lack of systematic and quantitative experimental and computational approaches. Using the cell and nuclear boundaries as landmarks, we generated a 4D ...

Dynamic force profile in hydraulic hybrid vehicles: a numerical investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Mohaghegh-Motlagh, Amin; Elahinia, Mohammad H.

2010-04-01

A hybrid hydraulic vehicle (HHV) combines a hydraulic sub-system with the conventional drivetrain in order to improve fuel economy for heavy vehicles. The added hydraulic module manages the storage and release of fluid power necessary to assist the motion of the vehicle. The power collected by a pump/motor (P/M) from the regenerative braking phase is stored in a high-pressure accumulator and then released by the P/M to the driveshaft during the acceleration phase. This technology is effective in significantly improving fuel-economy for heavy-class vehicles with frequent stop-and-go drive schedules. Despite improved fuel economy and higher vehicle acceleration, noise and vibrations are one of the main problems of these vehicles. The dual function P/Ms are the main source of noise and vibration in a HHV. This study investigates the dynamics of a P/M and particularly the profile and frequency-dependence of the dynamic forces generated by a bent-axis P/M unit. To this end, the fluid dynamics side of the problem has been simplified for investigating the system from a dynamics perspective. A mathematical model of a bent axis P/M has been developed to investigate the cause of vibration and noise in HHVs. The forces are calculated in time and frequency domains. The results of this work can be used to study the vibration response of the chassis and to design effective vibration isolation systems for HHVs.

Dynamical modeling of microRNA action on the protein translation process.

Science.gov (United States)

Zinovyev, Andrei; Morozova, Nadya; Nonne, Nora; Barillot, Emmanuel; Harel-Bellan, Annick; Gorban, Alexander N

2010-02-24

Protein translation is a multistep process which can be represented as a cascade of biochemical reactions (initiation, ribosome assembly, elongation, etc.), the rate of which can be regulated by small non-coding microRNAs through multiple mechanisms. It remains unclear what mechanisms of microRNA action are the most dominant: moreover, many experimental reports deliver controversial messages on what is the concrete mechanism actually observed in the experiment. Nissan and Parker have recently demonstrated that it might be impossible to distinguish alternative biological hypotheses using the steady state data on the rate of protein synthesis. For their analysis they used two simple kinetic models of protein translation. In contrary to the study by Nissan and Parker, we show that dynamical data allow discriminating some of the mechanisms of microRNA action. We demonstrate this using the same models as developed by Nissan and Parker for the sake of comparison but the methods developed (asymptotology of biochemical networks) can be used for other models. We formulate a hypothesis that the effect of microRNA action is measurable and observable only if it affects the dominant system (generalization of the limiting step notion for complex networks) of the protein translation machinery. The dominant system can vary in different experimental conditions that can partially explain the existing controversy of some of the experimental data. Our analysis of the transient protein translation dynamics shows that it gives enough information to verify or reject a hypothesis about a particular molecular mechanism of microRNA action on protein translation. For multiscale systems only that action of microRNA is distinguishable which affects the parameters of dominant system (critical parameters), or changes the dominant system itself. Dominant systems generalize and further develop the old and very popular idea of limiting step. Algorithms for identifying dominant systems in multiscale

Dynamical modeling of microRNA action on the protein translation process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barillot Emmanuel

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Protein translation is a multistep process which can be represented as a cascade of biochemical reactions (initiation, ribosome assembly, elongation, etc., the rate of which can be regulated by small non-coding microRNAs through multiple mechanisms. It remains unclear what mechanisms of microRNA action are the most dominant: moreover, many experimental reports deliver controversial messages on what is the concrete mechanism actually observed in the experiment. Nissan and Parker have recently demonstrated that it might be impossible to distinguish alternative biological hypotheses using the steady state data on the rate of protein synthesis. For their analysis they used two simple kinetic models of protein translation. Results In contrary to the study by Nissan and Parker, we show that dynamical data allow discriminating some of the mechanisms of microRNA action. We demonstrate this using the same models as developed by Nissan and Parker for the sake of comparison but the methods developed (asymptotology of biochemical networks can be used for other models. We formulate a hypothesis that the effect of microRNA action is measurable and observable only if it affects the dominant system (generalization of the limiting step notion for complex networks of the protein translation machinery. The dominant system can vary in different experimental conditions that can partially explain the existing controversy of some of the experimental data. Conclusions Our analysis of the transient protein translation dynamics shows that it gives enough information to verify or reject a hypothesis about a particular molecular mechanism of microRNA action on protein translation. For multiscale systems only that action of microRNA is distinguishable which affects the parameters of dominant system (critical parameters, or changes the dominant system itself. Dominant systems generalize and further develop the old and very popular idea of limiting step

Dynamic O-linked N-acetylglucosamine modification of proteins affects stress responses and survival of mesothelial cells exposed to peritoneal dialysis fluids.

Science.gov (United States)

Herzog, Rebecca; Bender, Thorsten O; Vychytil, Andreas; Bialas, Katarzyna; Aufricht, Christoph; Kratochwill, Klaus

2014-12-01

The ability of cells to respond and survive stressful conditions is determined, in part, by the attachment of O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) to proteins (O-GlcNAcylation), a post-translational modification dependent on glucose and glutamine. This study investigates the role of dynamic O-GlcNAcylation of mesothelial cell proteins in cell survival during exposure to glucose-based peritoneal dialysis fluid (PDF). Immortalized human mesothelial cells and primary mesothelial cells, cultured from human omentum or clinical effluent of PD patients, were assessed for O-GlcNAcylation under normal conditions or after exposure to PDF. The dynamic status of O-GlcNAcylation and effects on cellular survival were investigated by chemical modulation with 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON) to decrease or O-(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranosylidene)amino N-phenyl carbamate (PUGNAc) to increase O-GlcNAc levels. Viability was decreased by reducing O-GlcNAc levels by DON, which also led to suppressed expression of the cytoprotective heat shock protein 72. In contrast, increasing O-GlcNAc levels by PUGNAc or alanyl-glutamine led to significantly improved cell survival paralleled by higher heat shock protein 72 levels during PDF treatment. Addition of alanyl-glutamine increased O-GlcNAcylation and partly counteracted its inhibition by DON, also leading to improved cell survival. Immunofluorescent analysis of clinical samples showed that the O-GlcNAc signal primarily originates from mesothelial cells. In conclusion, this study identified O-GlcNAcylation in mesothelial cells as a potentially important molecular mechanism after exposure to PDF. Modulating O-GlcNAc levels by clinically feasible interventions might evolve as a novel therapeutic target for the preservation of peritoneal membrane integrity in PD. Copyright © 2014 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Accessing a hidden conformation of the maltose binding protein using accelerated molecular dynamics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denis Bucher

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Periplasmic binding proteins (PBPs are a large family of molecular transporters that play a key role in nutrient uptake and chemotaxis in Gram-negative bacteria. All PBPs have characteristic two-domain architecture with a central interdomain ligand-binding cleft. Upon binding to their respective ligands, PBPs undergo a large conformational change that effectively closes the binding cleft. This conformational change is traditionally viewed as a ligand induced-fit process; however, the intrinsic dynamics of the protein may also be crucial for ligand recognition. Recent NMR paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE experiments have shown that the maltose binding protein (MBP - a prototypical member of the PBP superfamily - exists in a rapidly exchanging (ns to µs regime mixture comprising an open state (approx 95%, and a minor partially closed state (approx 5%. Here we describe accelerated MD simulations that provide a detailed picture of the transition between the open and partially closed states, and confirm the existence of a dynamical equilibrium between these two states in apo MBP. We find that a flexible part of the protein called the balancing interface motif (residues 175-184 is displaced during the transformation. Continuum electrostatic calculations indicate that the repacking of non-polar residues near the hinge region plays an important role in driving the conformational change. Oscillations between open and partially closed states create variations in the shape and size of the binding site. The study provides a detailed description of the conformational space available to ligand-free MBP, and has implications for understanding ligand recognition and allostery in related proteins.

Fast dynamics perturbation analysis for prediction of protein functional sites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cohn Judith D

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We present a fast version of the dynamics perturbation analysis (DPA algorithm to predict functional sites in protein structures. The original DPA algorithm finds regions in proteins where interactions cause a large change in the protein conformational distribution, as measured using the relative entropy Dx. Such regions are associated with functional sites. Results The Fast DPA algorithm, which accelerates DPA calculations, is motivated by an empirical observation that Dx in a normal-modes model is highly correlated with an entropic term that only depends on the eigenvalues of the normal modes. The eigenvalues are accurately estimated using first-order perturbation theory, resulting in a N-fold reduction in the overall computational requirements of the algorithm, where N is the number of residues in the protein. The performance of the original and Fast DPA algorithms was compared using protein structures from a standard small-molecule docking test set. For nominal implementations of each algorithm, top-ranked Fast DPA predictions overlapped the true binding site 94% of the time, compared to 87% of the time for original DPA. In addition, per-protein recall statistics (fraction of binding-site residues that are among predicted residues were slightly better for Fast DPA. On the other hand, per-protein precision statistics (fraction of predicted residues that are among binding-site residues were slightly better using original DPA. Overall, the performance of Fast DPA in predicting ligand-binding-site residues was comparable to that of the original DPA algorithm. Conclusion Compared to the original DPA algorithm, the decreased run time with comparable performance makes Fast DPA well-suited for implementation on a web server and for high-throughput analysis.

Optical Tweezers-Based Measurements of Forces and Dynamics at Microtubule Ends.

Science.gov (United States)

Baclayon, Marian; Kalisch, Svenja-Marei; Hendel, Ed; Laan, Liedewij; Husson, Julien; Munteanu, E Laura; Dogterom, Marileen

2017-01-01

Microtubules are dynamic cytoskeletal polymers that polymerize and depolymerize while interacting with different proteins and structures within the cell. The highly regulated dynamic properties as well as the pushing and pulling forces generated by dynamic microtubule ends play important roles in processes such as in cell division. For instance, microtubule end-binding proteins are known to affect dramatically the dynamic properties of microtubules, and cortical dyneins are known to mediate pulling forces on microtubule ends. We discuss in this chapter our efforts to reconstitute these systems in vitro and mimic their interactions with structures within the cell using micro-fabricated barriers. Using an optical tweezers setup, we investigate the dynamics and forces of microtubules growing against functionalized barriers in the absence and presence of end-binding proteins and barrier-attached motor proteins. This setup allows high-speed as well as nanometer and piconewton resolution measurements on dynamic microtubules.

Coevolution study of mitochondria respiratory chain proteins: toward the understanding of protein--protein interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Ming; Ge, Yan; Wu, Jiayan; Xiao, Jingfa; Yu, Jun

2011-05-20

Coevolution can be seen as the interdependency between evolutionary histories. In the context of protein evolution, functional correlation proteins are ever-present coordinated evolutionary characters without disruption of organismal integrity. As to complex system, there are two forms of protein--protein interactions in vivo, which refer to inter-complex interaction and intra-complex interaction. In this paper, we studied the difference of coevolution characters between inter-complex interaction and intra-complex interaction using "Mirror tree" method on the respiratory chain (RC) proteins. We divided the correlation coefficients of every pairwise RC proteins into two groups corresponding to the binary protein--protein interaction in intra-complex and the binary protein--protein interaction in inter-complex, respectively. A dramatical discrepancy is detected between the coevolution characters of the two sets of protein interactions (Wilcoxon test, p-value = 4.4 × 10(-6)). Our finding reveals some critical information on coevolutionary study and assists the mechanical investigation of protein--protein interaction. Furthermore, the results also provide some unique clue for supramolecular organization of protein complexes in the mitochondrial inner membrane. More detailed binding sites map and genome information of nuclear encoded RC proteins will be extraordinary valuable for the further mitochondria dynamics study. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

All-Atom Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Protein Translocation through an α-Hemolysin Nanopore

KAUST Repository

Di Marino, Daniele

2015-08-06

© 2015 American Chemical Society. Nanopore sensing is attracting the attention of a large and varied scientific community. One of the main issues in nanopore sensing is how to associate the measured current signals to specific features of the molecule under investigation. This is particularly relevant when the translocating molecule is a protein and the pore is sufficiently narrow to necessarily involve unfolding of the translocating protein. Recent experimental results characterized the cotranslocational unfolding of Thioredoxin (Trx) passing through an α-hemolisin pore, providing evidence for the existence of a multistep process. In this study we report the results of all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of the same system. Our data indicate that Trx translocation involves two main barriers. The first one is an unfolding barrier associated with a translocation intermediate where the N-terminal region of Trx is stuck at the pore entrance in a conformation that strongly resembles the native one. After the abrupt unfolding of the N-terminal region, the Trx enters the α-hemolisin vestibule. During this stage, the constriction is occupied not only by the translocating residue but also by a hairpin-like structure forming a tangle in the constriction. The second barrier is associated with the disentangling of this region.

All-Atom Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Protein Translocation through an α-Hemolysin Nanopore

KAUST Repository

Di Marino, Daniele; Bonome, Emma Letizia; Tramontano, Anna; Chinappi, Mauro

2015-01-01

© 2015 American Chemical Society. Nanopore sensing is attracting the attention of a large and varied scientific community. One of the main issues in nanopore sensing is how to associate the measured current signals to specific features of the molecule under investigation. This is particularly relevant when the translocating molecule is a protein and the pore is sufficiently narrow to necessarily involve unfolding of the translocating protein. Recent experimental results characterized the cotranslocational unfolding of Thioredoxin (Trx) passing through an α-hemolisin pore, providing evidence for the existence of a multistep process. In this study we report the results of all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of the same system. Our data indicate that Trx translocation involves two main barriers. The first one is an unfolding barrier associated with a translocation intermediate where the N-terminal region of Trx is stuck at the pore entrance in a conformation that strongly resembles the native one. After the abrupt unfolding of the N-terminal region, the Trx enters the α-hemolisin vestibule. During this stage, the constriction is occupied not only by the translocating residue but also by a hairpin-like structure forming a tangle in the constriction. The second barrier is associated with the disentangling of this region.

Synaptic vesicle dynamic changes in a model of fragile X.

Science.gov (United States)

Broek, Jantine A C; Lin, Zhanmin; de Gruiter, H Martijn; van 't Spijker, Heleen; Haasdijk, Elize D; Cox, David; Ozcan, Sureyya; van Cappellen, Gert W A; Houtsmuller, Adriaan B; Willemsen, Rob; de Zeeuw, Chris I; Bahn, Sabine

2016-01-01

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a single-gene disorder that is the most common heritable cause of intellectual disability and the most frequent monogenic cause of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). FXS is caused by an expansion of trinucleotide repeats in the promoter region of the fragile X mental retardation gene (Fmr1). This leads to a lack of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), which regulates translation of a wide range of messenger RNAs (mRNAs). The extent of expression level alterations of synaptic proteins affected by FMRP loss and their consequences on synaptic dynamics in FXS has not been fully investigated. Here, we used an Fmr1 knockout (KO) mouse model to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying FXS by monitoring protein expression changes using shotgun label-free liquid-chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS(E)) in brain tissue and synaptosome fractions. FXS-associated candidate proteins were validated using selected reaction monitoring (SRM) in synaptosome fractions for targeted protein quantification. Furthermore, functional alterations in synaptic release and dynamics were evaluated using live-cell imaging, and interpretation of synaptic dynamics differences was investigated using electron microscopy. Key findings relate to altered levels of proteins involved in GABA-signalling, especially in the cerebellum. Further exploration using microscopy studies found reduced synaptic vesicle unloading of hippocampal neurons and increased vesicle unloading in cerebellar neurons, which suggests a general decrease of synaptic transmission. Our findings suggest that FMRP is a regulator of synaptic vesicle dynamics, which supports the role of FMRP in presynaptic functions. Taken together, these studies provide novel insights into the molecular changes associated with FXS.

Investigation of Fanconi anemia protein interactions by yeast two-hybrid analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, P A; Medhurst, A L; Youssoufian, H; Mathew, C G

2000-02-05

Fanconi anemia is a chromosomal breakage disorder with eight complementation groups (A-H), and three genes (FANCA, FANCC, and FANCG) have been identified. Initial investigations of the interaction between FANCA and FANCC, principally by co-immunoprecipitation, have proved controversial. We used the yeast two-hybrid assay to test for interactions of the FANCA, FANCC, and FANCG proteins. No activation of the reporter gene was observed in yeast co-expressing FANCA and FANCC as hybrid proteins, suggesting that FANCA does not directly interact with FANCC. However, a high level of activation was found when FANCA was co-expressed with FANCG, indicating strong, direct interaction between these proteins. Both FANCA and FANCG show weak but consistent interaction with themselves, suggesting that their function may involve dimerisation. The site of interaction of FANCG with FANCA was investigated by analysis of 12 mutant fragments of FANCG. Although both N- and C-terminal fragments did interact, binding to FANCA was drastically reduced, suggesting that more than one region of the FANCG protein is required for proper interaction with FANCA. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

On the mechanism of non-radiative decay of blue fluorescent protein chromophore: New insight from the excited-state molecular dynamics simulations and potential energy calculations

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Li; Liu, Jian-Yong; Zhou, Pan-Wang

2017-11-01

A detailed theoretical investigation based on the ab initio on-the-fly surface hopping dynamics simulations and potential energy surfaces calculations has been performed to unveil the mechanism of the photoinduced non-adiabatic relaxation process of the isolated blue fluorescent protein (BFP) chromophore in gas phase. The data analysis presents that the dominant reaction coordinate of the BFP chromophore is driven by a rotation motion around the CC double bridging bond, which is in remarkable difference with a previous result which supports a Hula-Twist rotation pattern. Such behavior is consistent with the double bond rotation pattern of the GFP neutral chromophore. In addition, the dynamics simulations give an estimated decay time of 1.1 ps for the S1 state, which is agrees well with the experimental values measured in proteins. The present work offers a straightforward understanding for the decay mechanism of the BFP chromophore and suggestions of the photochemical properties of analogous protein chromophores. We hope the current work would be helpful for further exploration of the BFP photochemical and photophysical properties in various environments, and can provide guidance and prediction for rational design of the fluorescent proteins catering for different demands.

Kinetics of protein unfolding at interfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yano, Yohko F

2012-01-01

The conformation of protein molecules is determined by a balance of various forces, including van der Waals attraction, electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding, and conformational entropy. When protein molecules encounter an interface, they are often adsorbed on the interface. The conformation of an adsorbed protein molecule strongly depends on the interaction between the protein and the interface. Recent time-resolved investigations have revealed that protein conformation changes during the adsorption process due to the protein-protein interaction increasing with increasing interface coverage. External conditions also affect the protein conformation. This review considers recent dynamic observations of protein adsorption at various interfaces and their implications for the kinetics of protein unfolding at interfaces. (topical review)

Dynamic Filament Formation by a Divergent Bacterial Actin-Like ParM Protein.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony J Brzoska

Full Text Available Actin-like proteins (Alps are a diverse family of proteins whose genes are abundant in the chromosomes and mobile genetic elements of many bacteria. The low-copy-number staphylococcal multiresistance plasmid pSK41 encodes ParM, an Alp involved in efficient plasmid partitioning. pSK41 ParM has previously been shown to form filaments in vitro that are structurally dissimilar to those formed by other bacterial Alps. The mechanistic implications of these differences are not known. In order to gain insights into the properties and behavior of the pSK41 ParM Alp in vivo, we reconstituted the parMRC system in the ectopic rod-shaped host, E. coli, which is larger and more genetically amenable than the native host, Staphylococcus aureus. Fluorescence microscopy showed a functional fusion protein, ParM-YFP, formed straight filaments in vivo when expressed in isolation. Strikingly, however, in the presence of ParR and parC, ParM-YFP adopted a dramatically different structure, instead forming axial curved filaments. Time-lapse imaging and selective photobleaching experiments revealed that, in the presence of all components of the parMRC system, ParM-YFP filaments were dynamic in nature. Finally, molecular dissection of the parMRC operon revealed that all components of the system are essential for the generation of dynamic filaments.

An investigation of dynamic subcarrier allocation in MIMO–OFDMA systems

OpenAIRE

Peng, Y; Armour, SMD; McGeehan, JP

2007-01-01

In this paper, orthogonal frequency-division multiple-access (OFDMA) systems with dynamic deterministic (as opposed to pseudorandom) allocation of subcarriers to users to exploit multiuser diversity are investigated. Previously published work on dynamic multiuser subcarrrier allocation for OFDMA systems with single-input-single-output (SISO) channels are surveyed. A near-optimal low-complexity algorithm for SISO systems, which is structurally similar to the algorithm by Rhee and Cioffi, is ex...

Contribution of gastroenteropancreatic appetite hormones to protein-induced satiety

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sparre, Anita Belza; Ritz, Christian; Sørensen, Mejse Q

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: Effects of protein intake on appetite-regulating hormones and their dynamics are unclear. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the satiating effects of meals with varying protein contents and whether there was an effect of dose on appetite-regulating hormones and appetite ratings.Design: Twenty...

The dynamics of single protein molecules is non-equilibrium and self-similar over thirteen decades in time

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xiaohu; Hong, Liang; Dean Smith, Micholas; Neusius, Thomas; Cheng, Xiaolin; Smith, Jeremy C.

2016-02-01

Internal motions of proteins are essential to their function. The time dependence of protein structural fluctuations is highly complex, manifesting subdiffusive, non-exponential behaviour with effective relaxation times existing over many decades in time, from ps up to ~102 s (refs ,,,). Here, using molecular dynamics simulations, we show that, on timescales from 10-12 to 10-5 s, motions in single proteins are self-similar, non-equilibrium and exhibit ageing. The characteristic relaxation time for a distance fluctuation, such as inter-domain motion, is observation-time-dependent, increasing in a simple, power-law fashion, arising from the fractal nature of the topology and geometry of the energy landscape explored. Diffusion over the energy landscape follows a non-ergodic continuous time random walk. Comparison with single-molecule experiments suggests that the non-equilibrium self-similar dynamical behaviour persists up to timescales approaching the in vivo lifespan of individual protein molecules.

Functional Dynamics within the Human Ribosome Regulate the Rate of Active Protein Synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferguson, Angelica; Wang, Leyi; Altman, Roger B; Terry, Daniel S; Juette, Manuel F; Burnett, Benjamin J; Alejo, Jose L; Dass, Randall A; Parks, Matthew M; Vincent, C Theresa; Blanchard, Scott C

2015-11-05

The regulation of protein synthesis contributes to gene expression in both normal physiology and disease, yet kinetic investigations of the human translation mechanism are currently lacking. Using single-molecule fluorescence imaging methods, we have quantified the nature and timing of structural processes in human ribosomes during single-turnover and processive translation reactions. These measurements reveal that functional complexes exhibit dynamic behaviors and thermodynamic stabilities distinct from those observed for bacterial systems. Structurally defined sub-states of pre- and post-translocation complexes were sensitive to specific inhibitors of the eukaryotic ribosome, demonstrating the utility of this platform to probe drug mechanism. The application of three-color single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) methods further revealed a long-distance allosteric coupling between distal tRNA binding sites within ribosomes bearing three tRNAs, which contributed to the rate of processive translation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Energy transfer at the active sites of heme proteins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dlott, D.D.; Hill, J.R.

1995-01-01

Experiments using a picosecond pump-probe apparatus at the Picosecond Free-electron Laser Center at Stanford University, were performed to investigate the relaxation of carbon monoxide bound to the active sites of heme proteins. The significance of these experiments is two-fold: (1) they provide detailed information about molecular dynamics occurring at the active sites of proteins; and (2) they provide insight into the nature of vibrational relaxation processes in condensed matter. Molecular engineering is used to construct various molecular systems which are studied with the FEL. We have studied native proteins, mainly myoglobin obtained from different species, mutant proteins produced by genetic engineering using recombinant DNA techniques, and a variety of model systems which mimic the structures of the active sites of native proteins, which are produced using molecular synthesis. Use of these different systems permits us to investigate how specific molecular structural changes affect dynamical processes occurring at the active sites. This research provides insight into the problems of how different species needs are fulfilled by heme proteins which have greatly different functionality, which is induced by rather small structural changes

Importance of the CMAP Correction to the CHARMM22 Protein Force Field: Dynamics of Hen Lysozyme

OpenAIRE

Buck, Matthias; Bouguet-Bonnet, Sabine; Pastor, Richard W.; MacKerell, Alexander D.

2005-01-01

The recently developed CMAP correction to the CHARMM22 force field (C22) is evaluated from 25 ns molecular dynamics simulations on hen lysozyme. Substantial deviations from experimental backbone root mean-square fluctuations and N-H NMR order parameters obtained in the C22 trajectories (especially in the loops) are eliminated by the CMAP correction. Thus, the C22/CMAP force field yields improved dynamical and structural properties of proteins in molecular dynamics simulations.

Characterization of threonine side chain dynamics in an antifreeze protein using natural abundance 13C NMR spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daley, Margaret E.; Sykes, Brian D.

2004-01-01

The dynamics of threonine side chains of the Tenebrio molitor antifreeze protein (TmAFP) were investigated using natural abundance 13 C NMR. In TmAFP, the array of threonine residues on one face of the protein is responsible for conferring its ability to bind crystalline ice and inhibit its growth. Heteronuclear longitudinal and transverse relaxation rates and the 1 H- 13 C NOE were determined in this study. The CαH relaxation measurements were compared to the previously measured 15 N backbone parameters and these are found to be in agreement. For the analysis of the threonine side chain motions, the model of restricted rotational diffusion about the χ 1 dihedral angle was employed [London and Avitabile (1978) J. Am. Chem. Soc., 100, 7159-7165]. We demonstrate that the motion experienced by the ice binding threonine side chains is highly restricted, with an approximate upper limit of less than ±25 deg

Pyrenebutanoate as a dynamic protein modifier for fluorometric detection in capillary zone electrophoresis

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Horká, Marie; Šlais, Karel

2002-01-01

Roč. 23, 7-8 (2002), s. 1090-1095 ISSN 0173-0835 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA4031901 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z4031919 Keywords : pyrenebutanoate * dynamic protein modifier * CZE Subject RIV: CB - Analytical Chemistry, Separation Impact factor: 4.325, year: 2002

Cooking temperature is a key determinant of in vitro meat protein digestion rate: investigation of underlying mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Bax, Marie-Laure; Aubry, Laurent; Ferreira, Claude; Daudin, Jean-Dominique; Gatellier, Philippe; Rémond, Didier; Santé-Lhoutellier, Véronique

2012-03-14

The present study aimed to evaluate the digestion rate and nutritional quality of pig muscle proteins in relation to different meat processes (aging, mincing, and cooking). Under our experimental conditions, aging and mincing had little impact on protein digestion. Heat treatments had different temperature-dependent effects on the meat protein digestion rate and degradation potential. At 70 °C, the proteins underwent denaturation that enhanced the speed of pepsin digestion by increasing enzyme accessibility to protein cleavage sites. Above 100 °C, oxidation-related protein aggregation slowed pepsin digestion but improved meat protein overall digestibility. The digestion parameters defined here open new insights on the dynamics governing the in vitro digestion of meat protein. However, the effect of cooking temperature on protein digestion observed in vitro needs to be confirmed in vivo.

Brownian dynamics of a protein-polymer chain complex in a solid-state nanopore

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Craig C.; Melnikov, Dmitriy V.; Gracheva, Maria E.

2017-08-01

We study the movement of a polymer attached to a large protein inside a nanopore in a thin silicon dioxide membrane submerged in an electrolyte solution. We use Brownian dynamics to describe the motion of a negatively charged polymer chain of varying lengths attached to a neutral protein modeled as a spherical bead with a radius larger than that of the nanopore, allowing the chain to thread the nanopore but preventing it from translocating. The motion of the protein-polymer complex within the pore is also compared to that of a freely translocating polymer. Our results show that the free polymer's standard deviations in the direction normal to the pore axis is greater than that of the protein-polymer complex. We find that restrictions imposed by the protein, bias, and neighboring chain segments aid in controlling the position of the chain in the pore. Understanding the behavior of the protein-polymer chain complex may lead to methods that improve molecule identification by increasing the resolution of ionic current measurements.

CAVER 3.0: a tool for the analysis of transport pathways in dynamic protein structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Chovancova, Eva; Pavelka, Antonin; Benes, Petr; Strnad, Ondrej; Brezovsky, Jan; Kozlikova, Barbora; Gora, Artur; Sustr, Vilem; Klvana, Martin; Medek, Petr; Biedermannova, Lada; Sochor, Jiri; Damborsky, Jiri

2012-01-01

Tunnels and channels facilitate the transport of small molecules, ions and water solvent in a large variety of proteins. Characteristics of individual transport pathways, including their geometry, physico-chemical properties and dynamics are instrumental for understanding of structure-function relationships of these proteins, for the design of new inhibitors and construction of improved biocatalysts. CAVER is a software tool widely used for the identification and characterization of transport pathways in static macromolecular structures. Herein we present a new version of CAVER enabling automatic analysis of tunnels and channels in large ensembles of protein conformations. CAVER 3.0 implements new algorithms for the calculation and clustering of pathways. A trajectory from a molecular dynamics simulation serves as the typical input, while detailed characteristics and summary statistics of the time evolution of individual pathways are provided in the outputs. To illustrate the capabilities of CAVER 3.0, the tool was applied for the analysis of molecular dynamics simulation of the microbial enzyme haloalkane dehalogenase DhaA. CAVER 3.0 safely identified and reliably estimated the importance of all previously published DhaA tunnels, including the tunnels closed in DhaA crystal structures. Obtained results clearly demonstrate that analysis of molecular dynamics simulation is essential for the estimation of pathway characteristics and elucidation of the structural basis of the tunnel gating. CAVER 3.0 paves the way for the study of important biochemical phenomena in the area of molecular transport, molecular recognition and enzymatic catalysis. The software is freely available as a multiplatform command-line application at http://www.caver.cz.

CAVER 3.0: a tool for the analysis of transport pathways in dynamic protein structures.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Chovancova

Full Text Available Tunnels and channels facilitate the transport of small molecules, ions and water solvent in a large variety of proteins. Characteristics of individual transport pathways, including their geometry, physico-chemical properties and dynamics are instrumental for understanding of structure-function relationships of these proteins, for the design of new inhibitors and construction of improved biocatalysts. CAVER is a software tool widely used for the identification and characterization of transport pathways in static macromolecular structures. Herein we present a new version of CAVER enabling automatic analysis of tunnels and channels in large ensembles of protein conformations. CAVER 3.0 implements new algorithms for the calculation and clustering of pathways. A trajectory from a molecular dynamics simulation serves as the typical input, while detailed characteristics and summary statistics of the time evolution of individual pathways are provided in the outputs. To illustrate the capabilities of CAVER 3.0, the tool was applied for the analysis of molecular dynamics simulation of the microbial enzyme haloalkane dehalogenase DhaA. CAVER 3.0 safely identified and reliably estimated the importance of all previously published DhaA tunnels, including the tunnels closed in DhaA crystal structures. Obtained results clearly demonstrate that analysis of molecular dynamics simulation is essential for the estimation of pathway characteristics and elucidation of the structural basis of the tunnel gating. CAVER 3.0 paves the way for the study of important biochemical phenomena in the area of molecular transport, molecular recognition and enzymatic catalysis. The software is freely available as a multiplatform command-line application at http://www.caver.cz.

CAVER 3.0: A Tool for the Analysis of Transport Pathways in Dynamic Protein Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Strnad, Ondrej; Brezovsky, Jan; Kozlikova, Barbora; Gora, Artur; Sustr, Vilem; Klvana, Martin; Medek, Petr; Biedermannova, Lada; Sochor, Jiri; Damborsky, Jiri

2012-01-01

Tunnels and channels facilitate the transport of small molecules, ions and water solvent in a large variety of proteins. Characteristics of individual transport pathways, including their geometry, physico-chemical properties and dynamics are instrumental for understanding of structure-function relationships of these proteins, for the design of new inhibitors and construction of improved biocatalysts. CAVER is a software tool widely used for the identification and characterization of transport pathways in static macromolecular structures. Herein we present a new version of CAVER enabling automatic analysis of tunnels and channels in large ensembles of protein conformations. CAVER 3.0 implements new algorithms for the calculation and clustering of pathways. A trajectory from a molecular dynamics simulation serves as the typical input, while detailed characteristics and summary statistics of the time evolution of individual pathways are provided in the outputs. To illustrate the capabilities of CAVER 3.0, the tool was applied for the analysis of molecular dynamics simulation of the microbial enzyme haloalkane dehalogenase DhaA. CAVER 3.0 safely identified and reliably estimated the importance of all previously published DhaA tunnels, including the tunnels closed in DhaA crystal structures. Obtained results clearly demonstrate that analysis of molecular dynamics simulation is essential for the estimation of pathway characteristics and elucidation of the structural basis of the tunnel gating. CAVER 3.0 paves the way for the study of important biochemical phenomena in the area of molecular transport, molecular recognition and enzymatic catalysis. The software is freely available as a multiplatform command-line application at http://www.caver.cz. PMID:23093919

Arabidopsis Regenerating Protoplast: A Powerful Model System for Combining the Proteomics of Cell Wall Proteins and the Visualization of Cell Wall Dynamics

OpenAIRE

Yokoyama, Ryusuke; Kuki, Hiroaki; Kuroha, Takeshi; Nishitani, Kazuhiko

2016-01-01

The development of a range of sub-proteomic approaches to the plant cell wall has identified many of the cell wall proteins. However, it remains difficult to elucidate the precise biological role of each protein and the cell wall dynamics driven by their actions. The plant protoplast provides an excellent means not only for characterizing cell wall proteins, but also for visualizing the dynamics of cell wall regeneration, during which cell wall proteins are secreted. It therefore offers a uni...

Investigation of the interaction of ferromagnetic fluids with proteins by dynamic light scattering

Science.gov (United States)

Velichko, Elena; Nepomnyashchaya, Elina; Dudina, Alina; Pleshakov, Ivan; Aksenov, Evgenii

2018-04-01

In this article the interaction between ionically stabilized magnetic nanoparticles and blood serum albumin proteins in liquid medium are discussed. Some distributions of nanoparticles' agglomerate sizes in solutions of albumin molecules, magnetic nanoparticles and their mixtures both under the influence of magnetic field and free from it are presented. It is shown that magnetic nanoparticles interact with albumin molecules, forming agglomerates. It is also shown that at the influence of magnetic field sizes of agglomerates increase proportionally to the magnetic field density.

Backbone dynamics of the EIAV-Tat protein from 15N relaxation studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ejchart, A.; Herrmann, F.; Roesch, P.; Sticht, H.; Willbold, D.

1994-01-01

The work investigates the mobility of EIAV-Tat protein backbone by measuring the relaxation parameters of the 15 N nitrogens. High degree of the flexibility, non-typical of rigid, well structured proteins was shown

On the analysis and comparison of conformer-specific essential dynamics upon ligand binding to a protein

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grosso, Marcos; Kalstein, Adrian; Parisi, Gustavo; Fernandez-Alberti, Sebastian; Roitberg, Adrian E.

2015-01-01

The native state of a protein consists of an equilibrium of conformational states on an energy landscape rather than existing as a single static state. The co-existence of conformers with different ligand-affinities in a dynamical equilibrium is the basis for the conformational selection model for ligand binding. In this context, the development of theoretical methods that allow us to analyze not only the structural changes but also changes in the fluctuation patterns between conformers will contribute to elucidate the differential properties acquired upon ligand binding. Molecular dynamics simulations can provide the required information to explore these features. Its use in combination with subsequent essential dynamics analysis allows separating large concerted conformational rearrangements from irrelevant fluctuations. We present a novel procedure to define the size and composition of essential dynamics subspaces associated with ligand-bound and ligand-free conformations. These definitions allow us to compare essential dynamics subspaces between different conformers. Our procedure attempts to emphasize the main similarities and differences between the different essential dynamics in an unbiased way. Essential dynamics subspaces associated to conformational transitions can also be analyzed. As a test case, we study the glutaminase interacting protein (GIP), composed of a single PDZ domain. Both GIP ligand-free state and glutaminase L peptide-bound states are analyzed. Our findings concerning the relative changes in the flexibility pattern upon binding are in good agreement with experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance data

On the analysis and comparison of conformer-specific essential dynamics upon ligand binding to a protein

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grosso, Marcos; Kalstein, Adrian; Parisi, Gustavo; Fernandez-Alberti, Sebastian, E-mail: sfalberti@gmail.com [Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Roque Saenz Peña 352, B1876BXD Bernal (Argentina); Roitberg, Adrian E. [Departments of Physics and Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (United States)

2015-06-28

The native state of a protein consists of an equilibrium of conformational states on an energy landscape rather than existing as a single static state. The co-existence of conformers with different ligand-affinities in a dynamical equilibrium is the basis for the conformational selection model for ligand binding. In this context, the development of theoretical methods that allow us to analyze not only the structural changes but also changes in the fluctuation patterns between conformers will contribute to elucidate the differential properties acquired upon ligand binding. Molecular dynamics simulations can provide the required information to explore these features. Its use in combination with subsequent essential dynamics analysis allows separating large concerted conformational rearrangements from irrelevant fluctuations. We present a novel procedure to define the size and composition of essential dynamics subspaces associated with ligand-bound and ligand-free conformations. These definitions allow us to compare essential dynamics subspaces between different conformers. Our procedure attempts to emphasize the main similarities and differences between the different essential dynamics in an unbiased way. Essential dynamics subspaces associated to conformational transitions can also be analyzed. As a test case, we study the glutaminase interacting protein (GIP), composed of a single PDZ domain. Both GIP ligand-free state and glutaminase L peptide-bound states are analyzed. Our findings concerning the relative changes in the flexibility pattern upon binding are in good agreement with experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance data.

Protein dynamics during presynaptic complex assembly on individual ssDNA molecules

OpenAIRE

Gibb, Bryan; Ye, Ling F.; Kwon, YoungHo; Niu, Hengyao; Sung, Patrick; Greene, Eric C.

2014-01-01

Homologous recombination is a conserved pathway for repairing double?stranded breaks, which are processed to yield single?stranded DNA overhangs that serve as platforms for presynaptic complex assembly. Here we use single?molecule imaging to reveal the interplay between Saccharomyce cerevisiae RPA, Rad52, and Rad51 during presynaptic complex assembly. We show that Rad52 binds RPA?ssDNA and suppresses RPA turnover, highlighting an unanticipated regulatory influence on protein dynamics. Rad51 b...

Investigating EMIC Wave Dynamics with RAM-SCB-E

Science.gov (United States)

Jordanova, V. K.; Fu, X.; Henderson, M. G.; Morley, S.; Welling, D. T.; Yu, Y.

2017-12-01

The distribution of ring current ions and electrons in the inner magnetosphere depends strongly on their transport in realistic electric (E) and magnetic (B) fields and concurrent energization or loss. To investigate the high variability of energetic particle (H+, He+, O+, and electron) fluxes during storms selected by the GEM Surface Charging Challenge, we use our kinetic ring current model (RAM) two-way coupled with a 3-D magnetic field code (SCB). This model was just extended to include electric field calculations, making it a unique, fully self-consistent, anisotropic ring current-atmosphere interactions model, RAM-SCB-E. Recently we investigated electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) instability in a local plasma using both linear theory and nonlinear hybrid simulations and derived a scaling formula that relates the saturation EMIC wave amplitude to initial plasma conditions. Global dynamic EMIC wave maps obtained with our RAM-SCB-E model using this scaling will be presented and compared with statistical models. These plasma waves can affect significantly both ion and electron precipitation into the atmosphere and the subsequent patterns of ionospheric conductance, as well as the global ring current dynamics.

Dynamic features of apo and bound HIV-Nef protein reveal the anti-HIV dimerization inhibition mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Moonsamy, Suri; Bhakat, Soumendranath; Soliman, Mahmoud E S

2015-01-01

The first account on the dynamic features of Nef or negative factor, a small myristoylated protein located in the cytoplasm believes to increase HIV-1 viral titer level, is reported herein. Due to its major role in HIV-1 pathogenicity, Nef protein is considered an emerging target in anti-HIV drug design and discovery process. In this study, comparative long-range all-atom molecular dynamics simulations were employed for apo and bound protein to unveil molecular mechanism of HIV-Nef dimerization and inhibition. Results clearly revealed that B9, a newly discovered Nef inhibitor, binds at the dimeric interface of Nef protein and caused significant separation between orthogonally opposed residues, namely Asp108, Leu112 and Gln104. Large differences in magnitudes were observed in the radius of gyration (∼1.5 Å), per-residue fluctuation (∼2 Å), C-alpha deviations (∼2 Å) which confirm a comparatively more flexible nature of apo conformation due to rapid dimeric association. Compared to the bound conformer, a more globally correlated motion in case of apo structure of HIV-Nef confirms the process of dimeric association. This clearly highlights the process of inhibition as a result of ligand binding. The difference in principal component analysis (PCA) scatter plot and per-residue mobility plot across first two normal modes further justifies the same findings. The in-depth dynamic analyses of Nef protein presented in this report would serve crucial in understanding its function and inhibition mechanisms. Information on inhibitor binding mode would also assist in designing of potential inhibitors against this important HIV target.

Investigation of transient dynamics of capillary assisted particle assembly yield

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Virganavičius, D. [Institute of Materials Science, Kaunas University of Technology, K. Baršausko St. 59, Kaunas LT-51423 (Lithuania); Laboratory of Micro- and Nanotechnology, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Juodėnas, M. [Institute of Materials Science, Kaunas University of Technology, K. Baršausko St. 59, Kaunas LT-51423 (Lithuania); Tamulevičius, T., E-mail: tomas.tamulevicius@ktu.lt [Institute of Materials Science, Kaunas University of Technology, K. Baršausko St. 59, Kaunas LT-51423 (Lithuania); Department of Physics, Kaunas University of Technology, Studentų St. 50, Kaunas LT-51368 (Lithuania); Schift, H. [Laboratory of Micro- and Nanotechnology, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Tamulevičius, S. [Institute of Materials Science, Kaunas University of Technology, K. Baršausko St. 59, Kaunas LT-51423 (Lithuania); Department of Physics, Kaunas University of Technology, Studentų St. 50, Kaunas LT-51368 (Lithuania)

2017-06-01

Highlights: • Regular particles arrays were assembled by capillary force assisted deposition. • Deposition yield dynamics was investigated at different thermal velocity regimes. • Yield transient behavior was approximated with logistic function. • Pattern density influence for switching behavior was assessed. - Abstract: In this paper, the transient behavior of the particle assembly yield dynamics when switching from low yield to high yield deposition at different velocity and thermal regimes is investigated. Capillary force assisted particle assembly (CAPA) using colloidal suspension of green fluorescent 270 nm diameter polystyrene beads was performed on patterned poly (dimethyl siloxane) substrates using a custom-built deposition setup. Two types of patterns with different trapping site densities were used to assess CAPA process dynamics and the influence of pattern density and geometry on the deposition yield transitions. Closely packed 300 nm diameter circular pits ordered in hexagonal arrangement with 300 nm pitch, and 2 × 2 mm{sup 2} square pits with 2 μm spacing were used. 2-D regular structures of the deposited particles were investigated by means of optical fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy. The fluorescence micrographs were analyzed using a custom algorithm enabling to identify particles and calculate efficiency of the deposition performed at different regimes. Relationship between the spatial distribution of particles in transition zone and ambient conditions was evaluated and quantified by approximation of the yield profile with a logistic function.

Fluorinated ionic liquids for protein drug delivery systems: Investigating their impact on the structure and function of lysozyme.

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, Márcia; Vieira, Nicole S M; Rebelo, Luís Paulo N; Araújo, João M M; Pereiro, Ana B; Archer, Margarida

2017-06-30

Since the approval of recombinant human insulin by FDA in 1982, more than 200 proteins are currently available for pharmaceutical use to treat a wide range of diseases. However, innovation is still required to develop effective approaches for drug delivery. Our aim is to investigate the potential use of fluorinated ionic liquids (FILs) as drug delivery systems (DDS) for therapeutic proteins. Some initial parameters need to be assessed before further studies can proceed. This work evaluates the impact of FILs on the stability, function, structure and aggregation state of lysozyme. Different techniques were used for this purpose, which included differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF), spectrophotometric assays, circular dichroism (CD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM). Ionic liquids composed of cholinium-, imidazolium- or pyridinium- derivatives were combined with different anions and analysed at different concentrations in aqueous solutions (below and above the critical aggregation concentration, CAC). The results herein presented show that the addition of ionic liquids had no significant effect on the stability and hydrolytic activity of lysozyme. Moreover, a distinct behaviour was observed in DLS experiments for non-surfactant and surfactant ionic liquids, with the latter encapsulating the protein at concentrations above the CAC. These results encourage us to further study ionic liquids as promising tools for DDS of protein drugs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Global investigation of the nonlinear dynamics of carbon nanotubes

KAUST Repository

Xu, Tiantian

2016-11-17

Understanding the complex nonlinear dynamics of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is essential to enable utilization of these structures in devices and practical applications. We present in this work an investigation of the global nonlinear dynamics of a slacked CNT when actuated by large electrostatic and electrodynamic excitations. The coexistence of several attractors is observed. The CNT is modeled as an Euler–Bernoulli beam. A reduced-order model based on the Galerkin method is developed and utilized to simulate the static and dynamic responses. Critical computational challenges are posed due to the complicated form of the electrostatic force, which describes the interaction between the upper electrode, consisting of the cylindrically shaped CNT, and the lower electrode. Toward this, we approximate the electrostatic force using the Padé expansion. We explore the dynamics near the primary and superharmonic resonances. The nanostructure exhibits several attractors with different characteristics. To achieve deep insight and describe the complexity and richness of the behavior, we analyze the nonlinear response from an attractor-basins point of view. The competition of attractors is highlighted. Compactness and/or fractality of their basins are discussed. Both the effects of varying the excitation frequency and amplitude are examined up to the dynamic pull-in instability.

Deciphering complex dynamics of water counteraction around secondary structural elements of allosteric protein complex: Case study of SAP-SLAM system in signal transduction cascade.

Science.gov (United States)

Samanta, Sudipta; Mukherjee, Sanchita

2018-01-28

The first hydration shell of a protein exhibits heterogeneous behavior owing to several attributes, majorly local polarity and structural flexibility as revealed by solvation dynamics of secondary structural elements. We attempt to recognize the change in complex water counteraction generated due to substantial alteration in flexibility during protein complex formation. The investigation is carried out with the signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM) family of receptors, expressed by an array of immune cells, and interacting with SLAM-associated protein (SAP), composed of one SH2 domain. All atom molecular dynamics simulations are employed to the aqueous solutions of free SAP and SLAM-peptide bound SAP. We observed that water dynamics around different secondary structural elements became highly affected as well as nicely correlated with the SLAM-peptide induced change in structural rigidity obtained by thermodynamic quantification. A few instances of contradictory dynamic features of water to the change in structural flexibility are explained by means of occluded polar residues by the peptide. For βD, EFloop, and BGloop, both structural flexibility and solvent accessibility of the residues confirm the obvious contribution. Most importantly, we have quantified enhanced restriction in water dynamics around the second Fyn-binding site of the SAP due to SAP-SLAM complexation, even prior to the presence of Fyn. This observation leads to a novel argument that SLAM induced more restricted water molecules could offer more water entropic contribution during the subsequent Fyn binding and provide enhanced stability to the SAP-Fyn complex in the signaling cascade. Finally, SLAM induced water counteraction around the second binding site of the SAP sheds light on the allosteric property of the SAP, which becomes an integral part of the underlying signal transduction mechanism.

Deciphering complex dynamics of water counteraction around secondary structural elements of allosteric protein complex: Case study of SAP-SLAM system in signal transduction cascade

Science.gov (United States)

Samanta, Sudipta; Mukherjee, Sanchita

2018-01-01

The first hydration shell of a protein exhibits heterogeneous behavior owing to several attributes, majorly local polarity and structural flexibility as revealed by solvation dynamics of secondary structural elements. We attempt to recognize the change in complex water counteraction generated due to substantial alteration in flexibility during protein complex formation. The investigation is carried out with the signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM) family of receptors, expressed by an array of immune cells, and interacting with SLAM-associated protein (SAP), composed of one SH2 domain. All atom molecular dynamics simulations are employed to the aqueous solutions of free SAP and SLAM-peptide bound SAP. We observed that water dynamics around different secondary structural elements became highly affected as well as nicely correlated with the SLAM-peptide induced change in structural rigidity obtained by thermodynamic quantification. A few instances of contradictory dynamic features of water to the change in structural flexibility are explained by means of occluded polar residues by the peptide. For βD, EFloop, and BGloop, both structural flexibility and solvent accessibility of the residues confirm the obvious contribution. Most importantly, we have quantified enhanced restriction in water dynamics around the second Fyn-binding site of the SAP due to SAP-SLAM complexation, even prior to the presence of Fyn. This observation leads to a novel argument that SLAM induced more restricted water molecules could offer more water entropic contribution during the subsequent Fyn binding and provide enhanced stability to the SAP-Fyn complex in the signaling cascade. Finally, SLAM induced water counteraction around the second binding site of the SAP sheds light on the allosteric property of the SAP, which becomes an integral part of the underlying signal transduction mechanism.

MAS NMR of HIV-1 protein assemblies

Science.gov (United States)

Suiter, Christopher L.; Quinn, Caitlin M.; Lu, Manman; Hou, Guangjin; Zhang, Huilan; Polenova, Tatyana

2015-04-01

The negative global impact of the AIDS pandemic is well known. In this perspective article, the utility of magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy to answer pressing questions related to the structure and dynamics of HIV-1 protein assemblies is examined. In recent years, MAS NMR has undergone major technological developments enabling studies of large viral assemblies. We discuss some of these evolving methods and technologies and provide a perspective on the current state of MAS NMR as applied to the investigations into structure and dynamics of HIV-1 assemblies of CA capsid protein and of Gag maturation intermediates.

Investigation of longitudinal dynamic in laser electron storage ring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karnaukhov, I.; Zelinsky, A. E-mail: zelinsky@kipt.kharkov.ua; Telegin, Yu

2001-09-01

Longitudinal dynamic of electron beam due to radiation damping and quantum fluctuations in the storage ring with a laser-electron interaction section (Compton scattering) is investigated. This investigation was carried out by numerical simulations using the Monte Carlo method. The dependence of the steady-state energy spread of electron beam due to the Compton back scattering of photons on the electron beam energy and photon flash density were obtained. Simulation findings are compared with the analytical estimations by Z. Huang.

Investigation of longitudinal dynamic in laser electron storage ring

CERN Document Server

Karnaukhov, I; Telegin, Yu P

2001-01-01

Longitudinal dynamic of electron beam due to radiation damping and quantum fluctuations in the storage ring with a laser-electron interaction section (Compton scattering) is investigated. This investigation was carried out by numerical simulations using the Monte Carlo method. The dependence of the steady-state energy spread of electron beam due to the Compton back scattering of photons on the electron beam energy and photon flash density were obtained. Simulation findings are compared with the analytical estimations by Z. Huang.

High resolution neutron spectroscopy - a tool for the investigation of dynamics of polymers and soft matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monkenbusch, M.; Richter, D.

2007-01-01

Neutron scattering, with the ability to vary the contrast of molecular items by hydrogen/deuterium exchanges, is an invaluable tool for soft matter research. Besides the structural information on the mesoscopic scale that is obtained by diffraction methods like small angle neutron scattering, the slow dynamics of molecular motion on mesoscopic scale is accessible by high resolution neutron spectroscopy. The basic features of neutron backscattering spectroscopy, and in particular neutron spin-echo spectroscopy, are presented, in combination with illustrations of results from polymer melt dynamics to protein dynamics which are obtained by these techniques. (authors)

Influence of ionizing radiation on the plasma membrane proteins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dreval', V.I.

1992-01-01

The effect of ionizing radiation on the meat cattle thymocytes plasma membranes was studied. Using fluorescence quenching technique the effect of irradiation of proteins conformation was investigated. The influence of ionizing radiation on the plasma membranes was shown to be followed by changes of the protein structure-dynamic organization

Cross-talk between lipid and protein carbonylation in a dynamic cardiomyocyte model of mild nitroxidative stress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Griesser

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS play an important role in the regulation of cardiac function. Increase in ROS/RNS concentration results in lipid and protein oxidation and is often associated with onset and/or progression of many cardiovascular disorders. However, interplay between lipid and protein modifications has not been simultaneously studied in detail so far. Biomolecule carbonylation is one of the most common biomarkers of oxidative stress. Using a dynamic model of nitroxidative stress we demonstrated rapid changes in biomolecule carbonylation in rat cardiomyocytes. Levels of carbonylated species increased as early as 15 min upon treatment with the peroxynitrite donor, 3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1, and decreased to values close to control after 16 h. Total (lipids+proteins vs. protein-specific carbonylation showed different dynamics, with a significant increase in protein-bound carbonyls at later time points. Treatment with SIN-1 in combination with inhibitors of proteasomal and autophagy/lysosomal degradation pathways allowed confirmation of a significant role of the proteasome in the degradation of carbonylated proteins, whereas lipid carbonylation increased in the presence of autophagy/lysosomal inhibitors. Electrophilic aldehydes and ketones formed by lipid peroxidation were identified and relatively quantified using LC-MS/MS. Molecular identity of reactive species was used for data-driven analysis of their protein targets. Combination of different enrichment strategies with LC-MS/MS analysis allowed identification of more than 167 unique proteins with 332 sites modified by electrophilic lipid peroxidation products. Gene ontology analysis of modified proteins demonstrated enrichment of several functional categories including proteins involved in cytoskeleton, extracellular matrix, ion channels and their regulation. Using calcium mobilization assays, the effect of nitroxidative stress on the activity of several ion

A comparative molecular dynamics study on thermostability of human and chicken prion proteins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ji, Hong-Fang; Zhang, Hong-Yu

2007-01-01

To compare the thermostabilities of human and chicken normal cellular prion proteins (HuPrP C and CkPrP C ), molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed for both proteins at an ensemble level (10 parallel simulations at 400 K and 5 parallel simulations at 300 K as a control). It is found that the thermostability of HuPrP C is comparable with that of CkPrP C , which implicates that the non-occurrence of prion diseases in non-mammals cannot be completely attributed to the thermodynamic properties of non-mammalian PrP C

DTFP-Growth: Dynamic Threshold-Based FP-Growth Rule Mining Algorithm Through Integrating Gene Expression, Methylation, and Protein-Protein Interaction Profiles.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallik, Saurav; Bhadra, Tapas; Mukherji, Ayan; Mallik, Saurav; Bhadra, Tapas; Mukherji, Ayan; Mallik, Saurav; Bhadra, Tapas; Mukherji, Ayan

2018-04-01

Association rule mining is an important technique for identifying interesting relationships between gene pairs in a biological data set. Earlier methods basically work for a single biological data set, and, in maximum cases, a single minimum support cutoff can be applied globally, i.e., across all genesets/itemsets. To overcome this limitation, in this paper, we propose dynamic threshold-based FP-growth rule mining algorithm that integrates gene expression, methylation and protein-protein interaction profiles based on weighted shortest distance to find the novel associations among different pairs of genes in multi-view data sets. For this purpose, we introduce three new thresholds, namely, Distance-based Variable/Dynamic Supports (DVS), Distance-based Variable Confidences (DVC), and Distance-based Variable Lifts (DVL) for each rule by integrating co-expression, co-methylation, and protein-protein interactions existed in the multi-omics data set. We develop the proposed algorithm utilizing these three novel multiple threshold measures. In the proposed algorithm, the values of , , and are computed for each rule separately, and subsequently it is verified whether the support, confidence, and lift of each evolved rule are greater than or equal to the corresponding individual , , and values, respectively, or not. If all these three conditions for a rule are found to be true, the rule is treated as a resultant rule. One of the major advantages of the proposed method compared with other related state-of-the-art methods is that it considers both the quantitative and interactive significance among all pairwise genes belonging to each rule. Moreover, the proposed method generates fewer rules, takes less running time, and provides greater biological significance for the resultant top-ranking rules compared to previous methods.

ImaEdge - a platform for quantitative analysis of the spatiotemporal dynamics of cortical proteins during cell polarization.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhen; Lim, Yen Wei; Zhao, Peng; Kanchanawong, Pakorn; Motegi, Fumio

2017-12-15

Cell polarity involves the compartmentalization of the cell cortex. The establishment of cortical compartments arises from the spatial bias in the activity and concentration of cortical proteins. The mechanistic dissection of cell polarity requires the accurate detection of dynamic changes in cortical proteins, but the fluctuations of cell shape and the inhomogeneous distributions of cortical proteins greatly complicate the quantitative extraction of their global and local changes during cell polarization. To address these problems, we introduce an open-source software package, ImaEdge, which automates the segmentation of the cortex from time-lapse movies, and enables quantitative extraction of cortical protein intensities. We demonstrate that ImaEdge enables efficient and rigorous analysis of the dynamic evolution of cortical PAR proteins during Caenorhabditis elegans embryogenesis. It is also capable of accurate tracking of varying levels of transgene expression and discontinuous signals of the actomyosin cytoskeleton during multiple rounds of cell division. ImaEdge provides a unique resource for quantitative studies of cortical polarization, with the potential for application to many types of polarized cells.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first authors of the paper. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Multi-scaled normal mode analysis method for dynamics simulation of protein-membrane complexes: A case study of potassium channel gating motion correlations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Xiaokun; Han, Min; Ming, Dengming, E-mail: dming@fudan.edu.cn [Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai (China)

2015-10-07

Membrane proteins play critically important roles in many cellular activities such as ions and small molecule transportation, signal recognition, and transduction. In order to fulfill their functions, these proteins must be placed in different membrane environments and a variety of protein-lipid interactions may affect the behavior of these proteins. One of the key effects of protein-lipid interactions is their ability to change the dynamics status of membrane proteins, thus adjusting their functions. Here, we present a multi-scaled normal mode analysis (mNMA) method to study the dynamics perturbation to the membrane proteins imposed by lipid bi-layer membrane fluctuations. In mNMA, channel proteins are simulated at all-atom level while the membrane is described with a coarse-grained model. mNMA calculations clearly show that channel gating motion can tightly couple with a variety of membrane deformations, including bending and twisting. We then examined bi-channel systems where two channels were separated with different distances. From mNMA calculations, we observed both positive and negative gating correlations between two neighboring channels, and the correlation has a maximum as the channel center-to-center distance is close to 2.5 times of their diameter. This distance is larger than recently found maximum attraction distance between two proteins embedded in membrane which is 1.5 times of the protein size, indicating that membrane fluctuation might impose collective motions among proteins within a larger area. The hybrid resolution feature in mNMA provides atomic dynamics information for key components in the system without costing much computer resource. We expect it to be a conventional simulation tool for ordinary laboratories to study the dynamics of very complicated biological assemblies. The source code is available upon request to the authors.

Protein-protein docking with dynamic residue protonation states.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krishna Praneeth Kilambi

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Protein-protein interactions depend on a host of environmental factors. Local pH conditions influence the interactions through the protonation states of the ionizable residues that can change upon binding. In this work, we present a pH-sensitive docking approach, pHDock, that can sample side-chain protonation states of five ionizable residues (Asp, Glu, His, Tyr, Lys on-the-fly during the docking simulation. pHDock produces successful local docking funnels in approximately half (79/161 the protein complexes, including 19 cases where standard RosettaDock fails. pHDock also performs better than the two control cases comprising docking at pH 7.0 or using fixed, predetermined protonation states. On average, the top-ranked pHDock structures have lower interface RMSDs and recover more native interface residue-residue contacts and hydrogen bonds compared to RosettaDock. Addition of backbone flexibility using a computationally-generated conformational ensemble further improves native contact and hydrogen bond recovery in the top-ranked structures. Although pHDock is designed to improve docking, it also successfully predicts a large pH-dependent binding affinity change in the Fc-FcRn complex, suggesting that it can be exploited to improve affinity predictions. The approaches in the study contribute to the goal of structural simulations of whole-cell protein-protein interactions including all the environmental factors, and they can be further expanded for pH-sensitive protein design.

Spectral counting assessment of protein dynamic range in cerebrospinal fluid following depletion with plasma-designed immunoaffinity columns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Borg Jacques

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In cerebrospinal fluid (CSF, which is a rich source of biomarkers for neurological diseases, identification of biomarkers requires methods that allow reproducible detection of low abundance proteins. It is therefore crucial to decrease dynamic range and improve assessment of protein abundance. Results We applied LC-MS/MS to compare the performance of two CSF enrichment techniques that immunodeplete either albumin alone (IgYHSA or 14 high-abundance proteins (IgY14. In order to estimate dynamic range of proteins identified, we measured protein abundance with APEX spectral counting method. Both immunodepletion methods improved the number of low-abundance proteins detected (3-fold for IgYHSA, 4-fold for IgY14. The 10 most abundant proteins following immunodepletion accounted for 41% (IgY14 and 46% (IgYHSA of CSF protein content, whereas they accounted for 64% in non-depleted samples, thus demonstrating significant enrichment of low-abundance proteins. Defined proteomics experiment metrics showed overall good reproducibility of the two immunodepletion methods and MS analysis. Moreover, offline peptide fractionation in IgYHSA sample allowed a 4-fold increase of proteins identified (520 vs. 131 without fractionation, without hindering reproducibility. Conclusions The novelty of this study was to show the advantages and drawbacks of these methods side-to-side. Taking into account the improved detection and potential loss of non-target proteins following extensive immunodepletion, it is concluded that both depletion methods combined with spectral counting may be of interest before further fractionation, when searching for CSF biomarkers. According to the reliable identification and quantitation obtained with APEX algorithm, it may be considered as a cheap and quick alternative to study sample proteomic content.

Characterization of threonine side chain dynamics in an antifreeze protein using natural abundance {sup 13}C NMR spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daley, Margaret E.; Sykes, Brian D. [University of Alberta, Department of Biochemistry, CIHR Group in Protein Structure and Function and Protein Engineering Network of Centres of Excellence (Canada)

2004-06-15

The dynamics of threonine side chains of the Tenebrio molitor antifreeze protein (TmAFP) were investigated using natural abundance {sup 13}C NMR. In TmAFP, the array of threonine residues on one face of the protein is responsible for conferring its ability to bind crystalline ice and inhibit its growth. Heteronuclear longitudinal and transverse relaxation rates and the {sup 1}H-{sup 13}C NOE were determined in this study. The C{alpha}H relaxation measurements were compared to the previously measured {sup 15}N backbone parameters and these are found to be in agreement. For the analysis of the threonine side chain motions, the model of restricted rotational diffusion about the {chi}{sub 1} dihedral angle was employed [London and Avitabile (1978) J. Am. Chem. Soc., 100, 7159-7165]. We demonstrate that the motion experienced by the ice binding threonine side chains is highly restricted, with an approximate upper limit of less than {+-}25 deg.

Structural basis of G protein-coupled receptor-Gi protein interaction: formation of the cannabinoid CB2 receptor-Gi protein complex.

Science.gov (United States)

Mnpotra, Jagjeet S; Qiao, Zhuanhong; Cai, Jian; Lynch, Diane L; Grossfield, Alan; Leioatts, Nicholas; Hurst, Dow P; Pitman, Michael C; Song, Zhao-Hui; Reggio, Patricia H

2014-07-18

In this study, we applied a comprehensive G protein-coupled receptor-Gαi protein chemical cross-linking strategy to map the cannabinoid receptor subtype 2 (CB2)-Gαi interface and then used molecular dynamics simulations to explore the dynamics of complex formation. Three cross-link sites were identified using LC-MS/MS and electrospray ionization-MS/MS as follows: 1) a sulfhydryl cross-link between C3.53(134) in TMH3 and the Gαi C-terminal i-3 residue Cys-351; 2) a lysine cross-link between K6.35(245) in TMH6 and the Gαi C-terminal i-5 residue, Lys-349; and 3) a lysine cross-link between K5.64(215) in TMH5 and the Gαi α4β6 loop residue, Lys-317. To investigate the dynamics and nature of the conformational changes involved in CB2·Gi complex formation, we carried out microsecond-time scale molecular dynamics simulations of the CB2 R*·Gαi1β1γ2 complex embedded in a 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine bilayer, using cross-linking information as validation. Our results show that although molecular dynamics simulations started with the G protein orientation in the β2-AR*·Gαsβ1γ2 complex crystal structure, the Gαi1β1γ2 protein reoriented itself within 300 ns. Two major changes occurred as follows. 1) The Gαi1 α5 helix tilt changed due to the outward movement of TMH5 in CB2 R*. 2) A 25° clockwise rotation of Gαi1β1γ2 underneath CB2 R* occurred, with rotation ceasing when Pro-139 (IC-2 loop) anchors in a hydrophobic pocket on Gαi1 (Val-34, Leu-194, Phe-196, Phe-336, Thr-340, Ile-343, and Ile-344). In this complex, all three experimentally identified cross-links can occur. These findings should be relevant for other class A G protein-coupled receptors that couple to Gi proteins. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Lagrangian investigations of vorticity dynamics in compressible turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Parashar, Nishant; Sinha, Sawan Suman; Danish, Mohammad; Srinivasan, Balaji

2017-10-01

In this work, we investigate the influence of compressibility on vorticity-strain rate dynamics. Well-resolved direct numerical simulations of compressible homogeneous isotropic turbulence performed over a cubical domain of 10243 are employed for this study. To clearly identify the influence of compressibility on the time-dependent dynamics (rather than on the one-time flow field), we employ a well-validated Lagrangian particle tracker. The tracker is used to obtain time correlations between the instantaneous vorticity vector and the strain-rate eigenvector system of an appropriately chosen reference time. In this work, compressibility is parameterized in terms of both global (turbulent Mach number) and local parameters (normalized dilatation-rate and flow field topology). Our investigations reveal that the local dilatation rate significantly influences these statistics. In turn, this observed influence of the dilatation rate is predominantly associated with rotation dominated topologies (unstable-focus-compressing, stable-focus-stretching). We find that an enhanced dilatation rate (in both contracting and expanding fluid elements) significantly enhances the tendency of the vorticity vector to align with the largest eigenvector of the strain-rate. Further, in fluid particles where the vorticity vector is maximally misaligned (perpendicular) at the reference time, vorticity does show a substantial tendency to align with the intermediate eigenvector as well. The authors make an attempt to provide physical explanations of these observations (in terms of moment of inertia and angular momentum) by performing detailed calculations following tetrads {approach of Chertkov et al. ["Lagrangian tetrad dynamics and the phenomenology of turbulence," Phys. Fluids 11(8), 2394-2410 (1999)] and Xu et al. ["The pirouette effect in turbulent flows," Nat. Phys. 7(9), 709-712 (2011)]} in a compressible flow field.

Dynamic light scattering study on phase separation of a protein-water mixture: Application on cold cataract development in the ocular lens

Science.gov (United States)

Petta, V.; Pharmakakis, N.; Papatheodorou, G. N.; Yannopoulos, S. N.

2008-06-01

We present a detailed dynamic light scattering study of the phase separation in the ocular lens emerging during cold cataract development. Cold cataract is a phase separation effect that proceeds via spinodal decomposition of the lens cytoplasm with cooling. The intensity autocorrelation functions of the lens protein content are analyzed with the aid of two methods, providing information on the populations and dynamics of the scattering elements associated with cold cataract. It is found that the temperature dependence of many measurable parameters changes appreciably at the characteristic temperature ˜16±1°C which is associated with the onset of cold cataract. By extending the temperature range of this work to previously inaccessible regimes, i.e., well below the phase separation or coexistence curve at Tcc , we have been able to accurately determine the temperature dependence of the collective and self-diffusion coefficients of proteins near the spinodal. The analysis showed that the dynamics of proteins bears some resemblance to the dynamics of structural glasses, where the apparent activation energy for particle diffusion increases below Tcc , indicating a highly cooperative motion. Application of ideas developed for studying the critical dynamics of binary protein-solvent mixtures, as well as the use of a modified Arrhenius equation, enabled us to estimate the spinodal temperature Tsp of the lens nucleus. The applicability of dynamic light scattering as a noninvasive, early-diagnostic tool for ocular diseases is also demonstrated in light of the findings of the present paper.

Investigating the structural impacts of I64T and P311S mutations in APE1-DNA complex: a molecular dynamics approach.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C George Priya Doss

Full Text Available Elucidating the molecular dynamic behavior of Protein-DNA complex upon mutation is crucial in current genomics. Molecular dynamics approach reveals the changes on incorporation of variants that dictate the structure and function of Protein-DNA complexes. Deleterious mutations in APE1 protein modify the physicochemical property of amino acids that affect the protein stability and dynamic behavior. Further, these mutations disrupt the binding sites and prohibit the protein to form complexes with its interacting DNA.In this study, we developed a rapid and cost-effective method to analyze variants in APE1 gene that are associated with disease susceptibility and evaluated their impacts on APE1-DNA complex dynamic behavior. Initially, two different in silico approaches were used to identify deleterious variants in APE1 gene. Deleterious scores that overlap in these approaches were taken in concern and based on it, two nsSNPs with IDs rs61730854 (I64T and rs1803120 (P311S were taken further for structural analysis.Different parameters such as RMSD, RMSF, salt bridge, H-bonds and SASA applied in Molecular dynamic study reveals that predicted deleterious variants I64T and P311S alters the structure as well as affect the stability of APE1-DNA interacting functions. This study addresses such new methods for validating functional polymorphisms of human APE1 which is critically involved in causing deficit in repair capacity, which in turn leads to genetic instability and carcinogenesis.

Dynamic Proteomics Emphasizes the Importance of Selective mRNA Translation and Protein Turnover during Arabidopsis Seed Germination*

Science.gov (United States)

Galland, Marc; Huguet, Romain; Arc, Erwann; Cueff, Gwendal; Job, Dominique; Rajjou, Loïc

2014-01-01

During seed germination, the transition from a quiescent metabolic state in a dry mature seed to a proliferative metabolic state in a vigorous seedling is crucial for plant propagation as well as for optimizing crop yield. This work provides a detailed description of the dynamics of protein synthesis during the time course of germination, demonstrating that mRNA translation is both sequential and selective during this process. The complete inhibition of the germination process in the presence of the translation inhibitor cycloheximide established that mRNA translation is critical for Arabidopsis seed germination. However, the dynamics of protein turnover and the selectivity of protein synthesis (mRNA translation) during Arabidopsis seed germination have not been addressed yet. Based on our detailed knowledge of the Arabidopsis seed proteome, we have deepened our understanding of seed mRNA translation during germination by combining two-dimensional gel-based proteomics with dynamic radiolabeled proteomics using a radiolabeled amino acid precursor, namely [35S]-methionine, in order to highlight de novo protein synthesis, stability, and turnover. Our data confirm that during early imbibition, the Arabidopsis translatome keeps reflecting an embryonic maturation program until a certain developmental checkpoint. Furthermore, by dividing the seed germination time lapse into discrete time windows, we highlight precise and specific patterns of protein synthesis. These data refine and deepen our knowledge of the three classical phases of seed germination based on seed water uptake during imbibition and reveal that selective mRNA translation is a key feature of seed germination. Beyond the quantitative control of translational activity, both the selectivity of mRNA translation and protein turnover appear as specific regulatory systems, critical for timing the molecular events leading to successful germination and seedling establishment. PMID:24198433

In-situ investigation of protein and DNA structure using UVRRS

Science.gov (United States)

Greek, L. Shane; Schulze, H. Georg; Blades, Michael W.; Haynes, Charles A.; Turner, Robin F. B.

1997-05-01

Ultraviolet resonance Raman spectroscopy (UVRRS) has the potential to become a sensitive, specific, versatile bioanalytical and biophysical technique for routine investigations of proteins, DNA, and their monomeric components, as well as a variety smaller, physiologically important aromatic molecules. The transition of UVRRS from a complex, specialized spectroscopic method to a common laboratory assay depends upon several developments, including a robust sample introduction method permitting routine, in situ analysis in standard laboratory environments. To this end, we recently reported the first fiber-optic probes suitable for deep-UV pulsed laser UVRRS. In this paper, we extend this work by demonstrating the applicability of such probes to studies of biochemical relevance, including investigations of the resonance enhancement of phosphotyrosine, thermal denaturation of RNase T1, and specific and non-specific protein binding. The advantages and disadvantages of the probes are discussed with reference to sample conditions and probe design considerations.

Molecular Dynamics Investigation of Cl− and Water Transport through a Eukaryotic CLC Transporter

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Mary Hongying; Coalson, Rob D.

2012-01-01

Early crystal structures of prokaryotic CLC proteins identified three Cl– binding sites: internal (Sint), central (Scen), and external (Sext). A conserved external GLU (GLUex) residue acts as a gate competing for Sext. Recently, the first crystal structure of a eukaryotic transporter, CmCLC, revealed that in this transporter GLUex competes instead for Scen. Here, we use molecular dynamics simulations to investigate Cl– transport through CmCLC. The gating and Cl–/H+ transport cycle are inferred through comparative molecular dynamics simulations with protonated and deprotonated GLUex in the presence/absence of external potentials. Adaptive biasing force calculations are employed to estimate the potential of mean force profiles associated with transport of a Cl– ion from Sext to Sint, depending on the Cl– occupancy of other sites. Our simulations demonstrate that protonation of GLUex is essential for Cl– transport from Sext to Scen. The Scen site may be occupied by two Cl– ions simultaneously due to a high energy barrier (∼8 Kcal/mol) for a single Cl– ion to translocate from Scen to Sint. Binding two Cl– ions to Scen induces a continuous water wire from Scen to the extracellular solution through the side chain of the GLUex gate. This may initiate deprotonation of GLUex, which then drives the two Cl– ions out of Scen toward the intracellular side via two putative Cl– transport paths. Finally, a conformational cycle is proposed that would account for the exchange stoichiometry. PMID:22455919

Evidence of a low temperature dynamical transition in concentrated PNIPAM microgels

OpenAIRE

Zanatta, Marco; Tavagnacco, Letizia; Buratti, Elena; Bertoldo, Monica; Natali, Francesca; Chiessi, Ester; Orecchini, Andrea; Zaccarelli, Emanuela

2018-01-01

The occurrence of a dynamical transition at low temperature has been reported in a large number of different proteins. Here we provide the first observation of a "protein-like" dynamical transition in a non-biological aqueous environment. To this aim we exploit the popular colloidal system of poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) microgels, extending their investigation to unprecedentedly high concentrations. Thanks to the heterogeneous polymeric architecture of the microgels, water crystalliza...

Magnetic effects on the solvent properties investigated by molecular dynamics simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moosavi, Fatemeh, E-mail: moosavibaigi@um.ac.ir; Gholizadeh, Mostafa

2014-03-15

This paper investigates how an external constant magnetic field in the Z-direction affects the performance of a solvent. The molecular dynamics simulation comprised common inorganic and organic solvents including water, acetone, acetonitrile, toluene, and n-hexane at the ambient temperature and pressure. A static magnetic field applied in the simulation process is able to reduce the solvent mobility in the solution in order to enhance the solvent–solute reaction. Simulation results show that the diffusivity decreases because of increasing the effective interactions. Besides, magnetic field reduces the volume of the solvent and increases the strength of the hydrogen bonds by maximizing attractive electrostatic and vdW interactions caused by changes in the radial distribution function of the solvents. Hydrogen-bonding characteristics of solvents investigated by molecular dynamics simulations were evidence for the hydrogen bonding strength of O···H that is a more efficient intermolecular hydrogen-bonding in comparison with N···H. - Highlights: • Molecular dynamics simulation technique investigates the effect of magnetic field on transport dynamics inside the solvent bulk. • External constant magnetic field influences on intermolecular interactions, thermophysics, and transport properties of the solvents. • Applying magnetic field strengthened hydrogen bond maximizes attractive electrostatic interactions, charge distribution becomes stronger, and the molecule mobility is demoted. • The low diffusivity of the solvents in the solutions increases the performance of the interactions and promotes the interactions. • On introducing a magnetic field of flux density parallel to the Z-direction, solvent acts as an obstacle to diffusion of solutes.

Interaction of amyloid inhibitor proteins with amyloid beta peptides: insight from molecular dynamics simulations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Payel Das

Full Text Available Knowledge of the detailed mechanism by which proteins such as human αB- crystallin and human lysozyme inhibit amyloid beta (Aβ peptide aggregation is crucial for designing treatment for Alzheimer's disease. Thus, unconstrained, atomistic molecular dynamics simulations in explicit solvent have been performed to characterize the Aβ17-42 assembly in presence of the αB-crystallin core domain and of lysozyme. Simulations reveal that both inhibitor proteins compete with inter-peptide interaction by binding to the peptides during the early stage of aggregation, which is consistent with their inhibitory action reported in experiments. However, the Aβ binding dynamics appear different for each inhibitor. The binding between crystallin and the peptide monomer, dominated by electrostatics, is relatively weak and transient due to the heterogeneous amino acid distribution of the inhibitor surface. The crystallin-bound Aβ oligomers are relatively long-lived, as they form more extensive contact surface with the inhibitor protein. In contrast, a high local density of arginines from lysozyme allows strong binding with Aβ peptide monomers, resulting in stable complexes. Our findings not only illustrate, in atomic detail, how the amyloid inhibitory mechanism of human αB-crystallin, a natural chaperone, is different from that of human lysozyme, but also may aid de novo design of amyloid inhibitors.

Molecular Dynamics simulations of Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins and identification of potential small molecule inhibitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Jayakumar, Jayanthi; Anishetty, Sharmila

2014-05-01

Chemotherapeutic resistance due to over expression of Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins (IAPs) XIAP, survivin and livin has been observed in various cancers. In the current study, Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out for all three IAPs and a common ligand binding scaffold was identified. Further, a novel sequence based motif specific to these IAPs was designed. SMAC is an endogenous inhibitor of IAPs. Screening of ChemBank for compounds similar to lead SMAC-non-peptidomimetics yielded a cemadotin related compound NCIMech_000654. Cemadotin is a derivative of natural anti-tumor peptide dolastatin-15; hence these compounds were docked against all three IAPs. Based on our analysis, we propose that NCIMech_000654/dolastatin-15/cemadotin derivatives may be investigated for their potential in inhibiting XIAP, survivin and livin. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dynamic development of the protein corona on silica nanoparticles: composition and role in toxicity

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Mortensen, Ninell P.; Hurst, Gregory B.; Wang, Wei; Foster, Carmen M.; Nallathamby, Prakash D.; Retterer, Scott T.

2013-06-01

The formation and composition of the protein corona on silica (SiO2) nanoparticles (NP) with different surface chemistries was evaluated over time. Native SiO2, amine (-NH2) and carboxy (-COO-) modified NP were examined following incubation in mammalian growth media containing fetal bovine serum (FBS) for 1, 4, 24 and 48 hours. The protein corona transition from its early dynamic state to the later more stable corona was evaluated using mass spectrometry. The NP diameter was 22.4 +/- 2.2 nm measured by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Changes in hydrodynamic diameter and agglomeration kinetics were studied using dynamic light scattering (DLS). The initial surface chemistry of the NP played an important role in the development and final composition of the protein corona, impacting agglomeration kinetics and NP toxicity. Particle toxicity, indicated by changes in membrane integrity and mitochondrial activity, was measured by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and tetrazolium reduction (MTT), respectively, in mouse alveolar macrophages (RAW264.7) and mouse lung epithelial cells (C10). SiO2-COO- NP had a slower agglomeration rate, formed smaller aggregates, and exhibited lower cytotoxicity compared to SiO2 and SiO2-NH2. Composition of the protein corona for each of the three NP was unique, indicating a strong dependence of corona development on NP surface chemistry. This work underscores the need to understand all aspects of NP toxicity, particularly the influence of agglomeration on effective dose and particle size. Furthermore, the interplay between materials and local biological environment is emphasized and highlights the need to conduct toxicity profiling under physiologically relevant conditions that provide an appropriate estimation of material modifications that occur during exposure in natural environments.The formation and composition of the protein corona on silica (SiO2) nanoparticles (NP) with different surface chemistries was evaluated

Sequence heterogeneity accelerates protein search for targets on DNA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shvets, Alexey A.; Kolomeisky, Anatoly B.

2015-01-01

The process of protein search for specific binding sites on DNA is fundamentally important since it marks the beginning of all major biological processes. We present a theoretical investigation that probes the role of DNA sequence symmetry, heterogeneity, and chemical composition in the protein search dynamics. Using a discrete-state stochastic approach with a first-passage events analysis, which takes into account the most relevant physical-chemical processes, a full analytical description of the search dynamics is obtained. It is found that, contrary to existing views, the protein search is generally faster on DNA with more heterogeneous sequences. In addition, the search dynamics might be affected by the chemical composition near the target site. The physical origins of these phenomena are discussed. Our results suggest that biological processes might be effectively regulated by modifying chemical composition, symmetry, and heterogeneity of a genome

Sequence heterogeneity accelerates protein search for targets on DNA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shvets, Alexey A.; Kolomeisky, Anatoly B., E-mail: tolya@rice.edu [Department of Chemistry and Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005 (United States)

2015-12-28

The process of protein search for specific binding sites on DNA is fundamentally important since it marks the beginning of all major biological processes. We present a theoretical investigation that probes the role of DNA sequence symmetry, heterogeneity, and chemical composition in the protein search dynamics. Using a discrete-state stochastic approach with a first-passage events analysis, which takes into account the most relevant physical-chemical processes, a full analytical description of the search dynamics is obtained. It is found that, contrary to existing views, the protein search is generally faster on DNA with more heterogeneous sequences. In addition, the search dynamics might be affected by the chemical composition near the target site. The physical origins of these phenomena are discussed. Our results suggest that biological processes might be effectively regulated by modifying chemical composition, symmetry, and heterogeneity of a genome.

Investigation on dynamic performance of concrete column crumb rubber steel and fiber concrete

Science.gov (United States)

Siti Nurul Nureda, M. Z.; Mariyana, A. K.; Khiyon, M. Iqbal; Rahman, M. S. Abdul; Nurizaty, Z.

2017-11-01

In general the Normal Concrete (NC) are by quasi-brittle failure, where, the nearly complete loss of loading capacity, once failure is initiated especially under dynamic loadings. The significance of this study is to improve the damping properties of concrete structure by utilization of the recycled materials from waste tires to be used in concrete as structural materials that improve seismic performance. In this study, the concrete containing 10% of fine crumb rubber and 1 % volume fraction of steel fiber from waste tires is use to investigate the dynamic performance (natural frequency and damping ratio).A small scale column were fabricated from Treated Crumb Rubber and Steel Fiber Concrete (TCRSFC) and NC were cast and cured for 28 days to investigate the dynamic performance. Based on analysis, dynamic modulus, damping ratio and natural frequency of TCRSFC has improved considerably by 5.18%, 109% and 10.94% when compared with NC. The TCRSFC producing concrete with the desired properties as well as to introduce the huge potential as dynamic resistance structure from severe damage especially prevention on catastrophic failure.

Discovering Cartels: Dynamic Interrelationships between Civil and Criminal Antitrust Investigations

OpenAIRE

Ghosal, Vivek

2006-01-01

This paper focuses on the genesis, taxonomy and timeline of U.S. criminal antitrust investigations, and uses time-series data on enforcement to examine the interrelationships between the various criminal enforcement variables as well as the linkages between criminal and civil enforcement. The key findings are: (1) there appears to be considerable dynamic interplay between the criminal variables. For example, an increase in grand jury investigations or criminal cases initiated or the number of...

Investigation of deformation mechanisms of staggered nanocomposites using molecular dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Mathiazhagan, S.; Anup, S.

2016-08-01

Biological materials with nanostructure of regularly or stair-wise staggered arrangements of hard platelets reinforced in a soft protein matrix have superior mechanical properties. Applications of these nanostructures to ceramic matrix composites could enhance their toughness. Using molecular dynamics simulations, mechanical behaviour of the bio-inspired nanocomposites is studied. Regularly staggered model shows better flow behaviour compared to stair-wise staggered model due to the symmetrical crack propagation along the interface. Though higher stiffness and strength are obtained for stair-wise staggered models, rapid crack propagation reduces the toughness. Arresting this crack propagation could lead to superior mechanical properties in stair-wise staggered models.

Investigation of Innervation Zone Shift with Continuous Dynamic Muscle Contraction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ken Nishihara

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Innervation zone (IZ has been identified as the origin of action potential propagation in isometric contraction. However, IZ shifts with changes in muscle length during muscle activity. The IZ shift has been estimated using raw EMG signals. This study aimed to investigate the movement of IZ location during continuous dynamic muscle contraction, using a computer program. Subjects flexed their elbow joint as repetitive dynamic muscle contractions. EMG signals were recorded from the biceps brachii muscle using an eight-channel surface electrode array. Approximately 100 peaks from EMG signals were detected for each channel and summed to estimate the IZ location. For each subject, the estimated IZ locations were subtracted from the IZ location during isometric contractions with the elbow flexed at 90°. The results showed that the IZ moved significantly with elbow joint movement from 45° to 135°. However, IZ movement was biased with only a 3.9 mm IZ shift on average when the elbow angle was acute but a 16 mm IZ shift on average when it was obtuse. The movement of IZ location during continuous dynamic muscle contraction can be investigated using this signal processing procedure without subjective judgment.

Changes in the anisotropy of oriented membrane dynamics induced by myelin basic protein

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Natali, F. [OGG-INFM, Grenoble (France); Gliozzi, A.; Rolandi, R.; Relini, A. [Dipartimento di Fisica and Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, Universita di Genova (Italy); Cavatorta, P.; Deriu, A. [Dipartimento di Fisica and Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, Universita di Parma (Italy); Fasano, A. [Dipartimento di Biochimica e Biologia Molecolare, Universita di Bari (Italy); Riccio, P. [Dipartimento di Biologia D.B.A.F., Universita della Basilicata, Potenza (Italy)

2002-07-01

We report recent results showing the evidence of the effect induced by physiological amounts of myelin basic protein (MBP) on the dynamics of dimyristoyl L-a-phosphatidic acid (DMPA) membranes. Incoherent elastic neutron scattering scans, performed over a wide temperature range, have shown that the anisotropy of motions in oriented membranes is significantly enhanced by the presence of MBP. (orig.)

[Dynamics of Irreversible Evaporation of a Water-Protein Droplet and a Problem of Structural and Dynamical Experiments with Single Molecules].

Science.gov (United States)

Shaitan, K V; Armeev, G A; Shaytan, A K

2016-01-01

We discuss the effect of isothermal and adiabatic evaporation of water on the state of a water-protein droplet. The discussed problem is of current importance due to development of techniques to perform single molecule experiments using free electron lasers. In such structure-dynamic experiments the delivery of a sample into the X-ray beam is performed using the microdroplet injector. The time between the injection and delivery is in the order of microseconds. In this paper we developed a specialized variant of all-atom molecular dynamics simulations for the study of irreversible isothermal evaporation of the droplet. Using in silico experiments we determined the parameters of isothermal evaporation of the water-protein droplet with the sodium and chloride ions in the concentration range of 0.3 M at different temperatures. The energy of irreversible evaporation determined from in silico experiments at the initial stages of evaporation virtually coincides with the specific heat of evaporation for water. For the kinetics of irreversible adiabatic evaporation an exact analytical solution was obtained in the limit of high thermal conductivity of the droplet (or up to the droplet size of -100 Å). This analytical solution incorporates parameters that are determined using in silico. experiments on isothermal droplet evaporation. We show that the kinetics of adiabatic evaporation and cooling of the droplet scales with the droplet size. Our estimates of the water-protemi droplet. freezing rate in the adiabatic regime in a vacuum chamber show that additional techniques for stabilizing the temperature inside the droplet should be used in order to study the conformational transitions of the protein in single molecules. Isothermal and quasi-isothermal conditions are most suitable for studying the conformational transitions upon object functioning. However, in this case it is necessary to take into account the effects of dehydration and rapid increase of ionic strength in an

The use of the partial coherence function technique for the investigation of BWR noise dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostic, Lj.

1983-01-01

The extensive experimental investigations, at the last time, indicate that the partial coherence function technique can be a powerful method of the investigation of BWR noise dynamics. Symple BWR noise dynamics model for the global noise study, based on different noise phenomena, is proposed in this paper. (author)

Chromatin structure and dynamics in hot environments: architectural proteins and DNA topoisomerases of thermophilic archaea.

Science.gov (United States)

Visone, Valeria; Vettone, Antonella; Serpe, Mario; Valenti, Anna; Perugino, Giuseppe; Rossi, Mosè; Ciaramella, Maria

2014-09-25

In all organisms of the three living domains (Bacteria, Archaea, Eucarya) chromosome-associated proteins play a key role in genome functional organization. They not only compact and shape the genome structure, but also regulate its dynamics, which is essential to allow complex genome functions. Elucidation of chromatin composition and regulation is a critical issue in biology, because of the intimate connection of chromatin with all the essential information processes (transcription, replication, recombination, and repair). Chromatin proteins include architectural proteins and DNA topoisomerases, which regulate genome structure and remodelling at two hierarchical levels. This review is focussed on architectural proteins and topoisomerases from hyperthermophilic Archaea. In these organisms, which live at high environmental temperature (>80 °C <113 °C), chromatin proteins and modulation of the DNA secondary structure are concerned with the problem of DNA stabilization against heat denaturation while maintaining its metabolic activity.

Chromatin Structure and Dynamics in Hot Environments: Architectural Proteins and DNA Topoisomerases of Thermophilic Archaea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valeria Visone

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In all organisms of the three living domains (Bacteria, Archaea, Eucarya chromosome-associated proteins play a key role in genome functional organization. They not only compact and shape the genome structure, but also regulate its dynamics, which is essential to allow complex genome functions. Elucidation of chromatin composition and regulation is a critical issue in biology, because of the intimate connection of chromatin with all the essential information processes (transcription, replication, recombination, and repair. Chromatin proteins include architectural proteins and DNA topoisomerases, which regulate genome structure and remodelling at two hierarchical levels. This review is focussed on architectural proteins and topoisomerases from hyperthermophilic Archaea. In these organisms, which live at high environmental temperature (>80 °C <113 °C, chromatin proteins and modulation of the DNA secondary structure are concerned with the problem of DNA stabilization against heat denaturation while maintaining its metabolic activity.

Investigation on dynamical interaction between a heavy vehicle and road pavement

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Shaopu; Li, Shaohua; Lu, Yongjie

2010-08-01

This paper presents a model for three-dimensional, heavy vehicle-pavement-foundation coupled system, which is modelled as a seven-DOF vehicle moving along a simply supported double-layer rectangular thin plate on a linear viscoelastic foundation. The vertical tyre force is described by a single point-contact model, while the pavement-foundation is modelled as a double-layer plate on a linear viscoelastic foundation. Using the Galerkin method and quick direct integral method, the dynamical behaviour of the vehicle-pavement-foundation coupled system is investigated numerically and compared with that of traditional vehicle system and pavement system. The effects of coupling action on vehicle body vertical acceleration, suspension deformations, tyre forces and pavement displacements are also obtained. The investigation shows that the coupling action could not be neglected even on a smooth road surface, such as highway. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the dynamics of vehicle and pavement simultaneously based on the vehicle-pavement-foundation coupled system.

LiGRO: a graphical user interface for protein-ligand molecular dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Kagami, Luciano Porto; das Neves, Gustavo Machado; da Silva, Alan Wilter Sousa; Caceres, Rafael Andrade; Kawano, Daniel Fábio; Eifler-Lima, Vera Lucia

2017-10-04

To speed up the drug-discovery process, molecular dynamics (MD) calculations performed in GROMACS can be coupled to docking simulations for the post-screening analyses of large compound libraries. This requires generating the topology of the ligands in different software, some basic knowledge of Linux command lines, and a certain familiarity in handling the output files. LiGRO-the python-based graphical interface introduced here-was designed to overcome these protein-ligand parameterization challenges by allowing the graphical (non command line-based) control of GROMACS (MD and analysis), ACPYPE (ligand topology builder) and PLIP (protein-binder interactions monitor)-programs that can be used together to fully perform and analyze the outputs of complex MD simulations (including energy minimization and NVT/NPT equilibration). By allowing the calculation of linear interaction energies in a simple and quick fashion, LiGRO can be used in the drug-discovery pipeline to select compounds with a better protein-binding interaction profile. The design of LiGRO allows researchers to freely download and modify the software, with the source code being available under the terms of a GPLv3 license from http://www.ufrgs.br/lasomfarmacia/ligro/ .

Single-molecule resolution of protein dynamics on polymeric membrane surfaces: the roles of spatial and population heterogeneity.

Science.gov (United States)

Langdon, Blake B; Mirhossaini, Roya B; Mabry, Joshua N; Sriram, Indira; Lajmi, Ajay; Zhang, Yanxia; Rojas, Orlando J; Schwartz, Daniel K

2015-02-18

Although polymeric membranes are widely used in the purification of protein pharmaceuticals, interactions between biomolecules and membrane surfaces can lead to reduced membrane performance and damage to the product. In this study, single-molecule fluorescence microscopy provided direct observation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and human monoclonal antibody (IgG) dynamics at the interface between aqueous buffer and polymeric membrane materials including regenerated cellulose and unmodified poly(ether sulfone) (PES) blended with either polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polyvinyl acetate-co-polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVAc-PVP), or polyethylene glycol methacrylate (PEGM) before casting. These polymer surfaces were compared with model surfaces composed of hydrophilic bare fused silica and hydrophobic trimethylsilane-coated fused silica. At extremely dilute protein concentrations (10(-3)-10(-7) mg/mL), protein surface exchange was highly dynamic with protein monomers desorbing from the surface within ∼1 s after adsorption. Protein oligomers (e.g., nonspecific dimers, trimers, or larger aggregates), although less common, remained on the surface for 5 times longer than monomers. Using newly developed super-resolution methods, we could localize adsorption sites with ∼50 nm resolution and quantify the spatial heterogeneity of the various surfaces. On a small anomalous subset of the adsorption sites, proteins adsorbed preferentially and tended to reside for significantly longer times (i.e., on "strong" sites). Proteins resided for shorter times overall on surfaces that were more homogeneous and exhibited fewer strong sites (e.g., PVAc-PVP/PES). We propose that strong surface sites may nucleate protein aggregation, initiated preferentially by protein oligomers, and accelerate ultrafiltration membrane fouling. At high protein concentrations (0.3-1.0 mg/mL), fewer strong adsorption sites were observed, and surface residence times were reduced. This suggests that at high concentrations

COMPARATIVE DYNAMICS OF PROTEIN DESTRUCTION IN CANNED FOODS IN SAUCE AT DIFFERENT THERMAL TREATMENT REGIMES AND SUBSEQUENT STORAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. B. Krylova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In the course of investigations, the structural changes in proteins were established, which were associated with the preliminary treatment of meat ingredients, a pH level of the system and parameters of thermal treatment.The pasteurization regimes allowed retaining a protein nitrogen proportion up to 94% by the end of canned food storage duration. Upon sterilization, the losses in protein nitrogen were two times higher. A negative effect of more acidic sauce on preservation of the protein nitrogen fraction in canned foods was established.An accumulation of the peptide nitrogen fraction in the canned foods in tomato sauce aſter pasteurization was two times more intensive. In the sterilized canned foods, the processes of accumulation of the low molecular weight nitrogenous compounds were more intensive, which suggests a depth of destruction of the protein and peptide nitrogen fraction. It was shown that an accumulation of amino-ammonia nitrogen during canned food storage was on average 12.4% irrespective of the pH value in the used sauces and the type of thermal treatment.A shiſt in the pH value of the canned foods toward the acid side upon pasteurization was noticed. With that, a degree of the shiſt in the canned foods in tomato sauce was 2.5 times higher than the pH value of the canned foods in sour cream sauce. When sterilizing canned foods, another dynamics of the pH values was observed: a pH value declined by 0.39 units in the canned foods in tomato sauce and grew by 0.22 units in the canned foods in sour cream sauce. During storage, the tendency of more intense pH decline was revealed for the canned foods in tomato sauce aſter pasteurization compared to the canned foods aſter sterilization. Another character of the pH value dynamics was found in the canned foods in sour cream sauce: an insignificant increase (by 0.7% of the pH value in the pasteurized canned foods and a significant decrease (by 8.4% in the sterilized canned foods

Toward structural dynamics: protein motions viewed by chemical shift modulations and direct detection of C'N multiple-quantum relaxation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mori, Mirko; Kateb, Fatiha; Bodenhausen, Geoffrey; Piccioli, Mario; Abergel, Daniel

2010-03-17

Multiple quantum relaxation in proteins reveals unexpected relationships between correlated or anti-correlated conformational backbone dynamics in alpha-helices or beta-sheets. The contributions of conformational exchange to the relaxation rates of C'N coherences (i.e., double- and zero-quantum coherences involving backbone carbonyl (13)C' and neighboring amide (15)N nuclei) depend on the kinetics of slow exchange processes, as well as on the populations of the conformations and chemical shift differences of (13)C' and (15)N nuclei. The relaxation rates of C'N coherences, which reflect concerted fluctuations due to slow chemical shift modulations (CSMs), were determined by direct (13)C detection in diamagnetic and paramagnetic proteins. In well-folded proteins such as lanthanide-substituted calbindin (CaLnCb), copper,zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn SOD), and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP12), slow conformational exchange occurs along the entire backbone. Our observations demonstrate that relaxation rates of C'N coherences arising from slow backbone dynamics have positive signs (characteristic of correlated fluctuations) in beta-sheets and negative signs (characteristic of anti-correlated fluctuations) in alpha-helices. This extends the prospects of structure-dynamics relationships to slow time scales that are relevant for protein function and enzymatic activity.

Investigation of propagation dynamics of truncated vector vortex beams.

Science.gov (United States)

Srinivas, P; Perumangatt, C; Lal, Nijil; Singh, R P; Srinivasan, B

2018-06-01

In this Letter, we experimentally investigate the propagation dynamics of truncated vector vortex beams generated using a Sagnac interferometer. Upon focusing, the truncated vector vortex beam is found to regain its original intensity structure within the Rayleigh range. In order to explain such behavior, the propagation dynamics of a truncated vector vortex beam is simulated by decomposing it into the sum of integral charge beams with associated complex weights. We also show that the polarization of the truncated composite vector vortex beam is preserved all along the propagation axis. The experimental observations are consistent with theoretical predictions based on previous literature and are in good agreement with our simulation results. The results hold importance as vector vortex modes are eigenmodes of the optical fiber.

Potential disruption of protein-protein interactions by graphene oxide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Mei; Kang, Hongsuk; Luan, Binquan; Yang, Zaixing; Zhou, Ruhong

2016-01-01

Graphene oxide (GO) is a promising novel nanomaterial with a wide range of potential biomedical applications due to its many intriguing properties. However, very little research has been conducted to study its possible adverse effects on protein-protein interactions (and thus subsequent toxicity to human). Here, the potential cytotoxicity of GO is investigated at molecular level using large-scale, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to explore the interaction mechanism between a protein dimer and a GO nanosheet oxidized at different levels. Our theoretical results reveal that GO nanosheet could intercalate between the two monomers of HIV-1 integrase dimer, disrupting the protein-protein interactions and eventually lead to dimer disassociation as graphene does [B. Luan et al., ACS Nano 9(1), 663 (2015)], albeit its insertion process is slower when compared with graphene due to the additional steric and attractive interactions. This study helps to better understand the toxicity of GO to cell functions which could shed light on how to improve its biocompatibility and biosafety for its wide potential biomedical applications.

Potential disruption of protein-protein interactions by graphene oxide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng, Mei [Department of Physics, Institute of Quantitative Biology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China); Kang, Hongsuk; Luan, Binquan [Computational Biological Center, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 (United States); Yang, Zaixing [Institute of Quantitative Biology and Medicine, SRMP and RAD-X, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123 (China); Zhou, Ruhong, E-mail: ruhong@us.ibm.com [Department of Physics, Institute of Quantitative Biology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China); Computational Biological Center, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 (United States); Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027 (United States)

2016-06-14

Graphene oxide (GO) is a promising novel nanomaterial with a wide range of potential biomedical applications due to its many intriguing properties. However, very little research has been conducted to study its possible adverse effects on protein-protein interactions (and thus subsequent toxicity to human). Here, the potential cytotoxicity of GO is investigated at molecular level using large-scale, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to explore the interaction mechanism between a protein dimer and a GO nanosheet oxidized at different levels. Our theoretical results reveal that GO nanosheet could intercalate between the two monomers of HIV-1 integrase dimer, disrupting the protein-protein interactions and eventually lead to dimer disassociation as graphene does [B. Luan et al., ACS Nano 9(1), 663 (2015)], albeit its insertion process is slower when compared with graphene due to the additional steric and attractive interactions. This study helps to better understand the toxicity of GO to cell functions which could shed light on how to improve its biocompatibility and biosafety for its wide potential biomedical applications.

Interaction of Tenebrio Molitor Antifreeze Protein with Ice Crystal: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramya, L; Ramakrishnan, Vigneshwar

2016-07-01

Antifreeze proteins (AFP) observed in cold-adapting organisms bind to ice crystals and prevent further ice growth. However, the molecular mechanism of AFP-ice binding and AFP-inhibited ice growth remains unclear. Here we report the interaction of the insect antifreeze protein (Tenebrio molitor, TmAFP) with ice crystal by molecular dynamics simulation studies. Two sets of simulations were carried out at 263 K by placing the protein near the primary prism plane (PP) and basal plane (BL) of the ice crystal. To delineate the effect of temperatures, both the PP and BL simulations were carried out at 253 K as well. The analyses revealed that the protein interacts strongly with the ice crystal in BL simulation than in PP simulation both at 263 K and 253 K. Further, it was observed that the interactions are primarily mediated through the interface waters. We also observed that as the temperature decreases, the interaction between the protein and the ice increases which can be attributed to the decreased flexibility and the increased structuring of the protein at low temperature. In essence, our study has shed light on the interaction mechanism between the TmAFP antifreeze protein and the ice crystal. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Dansyl labeling and bidimensional mass spectrometry to investigate protein carbonylation.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmese, Angelo; De Rosa, Chiara; Marino, Gennaro; Amoresano, Angela

2011-01-15

Carbonylation is a non-enzymatic irreversible post-translational modification. The adduction of carbonyl groups to proteins is due to the presence of excess of ROS in cells. Carbonylation of specific amino acid side chains is one of the most abundant consequences of oxidative stress; therefore, the determination of carbonyl groups content in proteins is regarded as a reliable way to estimate the cellular damage caused by oxidative stress. This paper reports a novel RIGhT (Reporter Ion Generating Tag) (A. Amoresano, G. Monti, C. Cirulli, G. Marino. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2006, 20, 1400) approach for selective labeling of carbonyl groups in proteins using dansylhydrazide, coupled with selective analysis by bidimensional mass spectrometry. We first applied this approach to ribonuclease A and lysozyme as model proteins. According to the so-called 'gel-free procedures', the analysis is carried out at the level of peptides following tryptic digest of the whole protein mixture. Modified RNaseA was analyzed in combined MS(2) and MS(3) scan mode, to specifically select the dansylated species taking advantage of the dansyl-specific fragmentation pathways. This combination allowed us to obtain a significant increase in signal/noise ratio and a significant increase in sensitivity of analysis, due to the reduction of duty cycle of the mass spectrometer. The unique signal obtained was correlated to peptide 1-10 of RNaseA carbonylated and labeled by dansylhydrazide. This strategy represents the first method leading to the direct identification of the carbonylation sites in proteins, thus indicating the feasibility of this strategy to investigate protein carbonylation in a proteomic approach. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Combined effect of cortical cytoskeleton and transmembrane proteins on domain formation in biomembranes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sikder, K. U.; Stone, K. A.; Kumar, P. B. S.

2014-01-01

We investigate the combined effects of transmembrane proteins and the subjacent cytoskeleton on the dynamics of phase separation in multicomponent lipid bilayers using computer simulations of a particle-based implicit solvent model for lipid membranes with soft-core interactions. We find that mic......We investigate the combined effects of transmembrane proteins and the subjacent cytoskeleton on the dynamics of phase separation in multicomponent lipid bilayers using computer simulations of a particle-based implicit solvent model for lipid membranes with soft-core interactions. We find...... that microphase separation can be achieved by the protein confinement by the cytoskeleton. Our results have relevance to the finite size of lipid rafts in the plasma membrane of mammalian cells. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC....

Effects of cell culture media on the dynamic formation of protein-nanoparticle complexes and influence on the cellular response.

Science.gov (United States)

Maiorano, Gabriele; Sabella, Stefania; Sorce, Barbara; Brunetti, Virgilio; Malvindi, Maria Ada; Cingolani, Roberto; Pompa, Pier Paolo

2010-12-28

The development of appropriate in vitro protocols to assess the potential toxicity of the ever expanding range of nanoparticles represents a challenging issue, because of the rapid changes of their intrinsic physicochemical properties (size, shape, reactivity, surface area, etc.) upon dispersion in biological fluids. Dynamic formation of protein coating around nanoparticles is a key molecular event, which may strongly impact the biological response in nanotoxicological tests. In this work, by using citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) of different sizes as a model, we show, by several spectroscopic techniques (dynamic light scattering, UV-visible, plasmon resonance light scattering), that proteins-NP interactions are differently mediated by two widely used cellular media (i.e., Dulbecco Modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) and Roswell Park Memorial Institute medium (RPMI), supplemented with fetal bovine serum). We found that, while DMEM elicits the formation of a large time-dependent protein corona, RPMI shows different dynamics with reduced protein coating. Characterization of these nanobioentities was also performed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and mass spectroscopy, revealing that the average composition of protein corona does not reflect the relative abundance of serum proteins. To evaluate the biological impact of such hybrid bionanostructures, several comparative viability assays onto two cell lines (HeLa and U937) were carried out in the two media, in the presence of 15 nm AuNPs. We observed that proteins/NP complexes formed in RPMI are more abundantly internalized in cells as compared to DMEM, overall exerting higher cytotoxic effects. These results show that, beyond an in-depth NPs characterization before cellular experiments, a detailed understanding of the effects elicited by cell culture media on NPs is crucial for standardized nanotoxicology tests.

Non-interacting surface solvation and dynamics in protein-protein interactions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Visscher, Koen M.; Kastritis, Panagiotis L.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/315886668; Bonvin, Alexandre M J J|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/113691238

2015-01-01

Protein-protein interactions control a plethora of cellular processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and signal transduction. Understanding how and why proteins interact will inevitably lead to novel structure-based drug design methods, as well as design of de novo

PerturbationAnalyzer: a tool for investigating the effects of concentration perturbation on protein interaction networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Fei; Li, Peng; Xu, Wenjian; Peng, Yuxing; Bo, Xiaochen; Wang, Shengqi

2010-01-15

The propagation of perturbations in protein concentration through a protein interaction network (PIN) can shed light on network dynamics and function. In order to facilitate this type of study, PerturbationAnalyzer, which is an open source plugin for Cytoscape, has been developed. PerturbationAnalyzer can be used in manual mode for simulating user-defined perturbations, as well as in batch mode for evaluating network robustness and identifying significant proteins that cause large propagation effects in the PINs when their concentrations are perturbed. Results from PerturbationAnalyzer can be represented in an intuitive and customizable way and can also be exported for further exploration. PerturbationAnalyzer has great potential in mining the design principles of protein networks, and may be a useful tool for identifying drug targets. PerturbationAnalyzer can be accessed from the Cytoscape web site http://www.cytoscape.org/plugins/index.php or http://biotech.bmi.ac.cn/PerturbationAnalyzer. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Exploring protein structure and dynamics through a project-oriented biochemistry laboratory module.

Science.gov (United States)

Lipchock, James M; Ginther, Patrick S; Douglas, Bonnie B; Bird, Kelly E; Patrick Loria, J

2017-09-01

Here, we present a 10-week project-oriented laboratory module designed to provide a course-based undergraduate research experience in biochemistry that emphasizes the importance of biomolecular structure and dynamics in enzyme function. This module explores the impact of mutagenesis on an important active site loop for a biomedically-relevant human enzyme, protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B). Over the course of the semester students guide their own mutant of PTP1B from conception to characterization in a cost-effective manner and gain exposure to fundamental techniques in biochemistry, including site-directed DNA mutagenesis, bacterial recombinant protein expression, affinity column purification, protein quantitation, SDS-PAGE, and enzyme kinetics. This project-based approach allows an instructor to simulate a research setting and prepare students for productive research beyond the classroom. Potential modifications to expand or contract this module are also provided. © 2017 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 45(5):403-410, 2017. © 2017 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

X-ray Pump–Probe Investigation of Charge and Dissociation Dynamics in Methyl Iodine Molecule

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Fang

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Molecular dynamics is of fundamental interest in natural science research. The capability of investigating molecular dynamics is one of the various motivations for ultrafast optics. We present our investigation of photoionization and nuclear dynamics in methyl iodine (CH3I molecule with an X-ray pump X-ray probe scheme. The pump–probe experiment was realized with a two-mirror X-ray split and delay apparatus. Time-of-flight mass spectra at various pump–probe delay times were recorded to obtain the time profile for the creation of high charge states via sequential ionization and for molecular dissociation. We observed high charge states of atomic iodine up to 29+, and visualized the evolution of creating these high atomic ion charge states, including their population suppression and enhancement as the arrival time of the second X-ray pulse was varied. We also show the evolution of the kinetics of the high charge states upon the timing of their creation during the ionization-dissociation coupled dynamics. We demonstrate the implementation of X-ray pump–probe methodology for investigating X-ray induced molecular dynamics with femtosecond temporal resolution. The results indicate the footprints of ionization that lead to high charge states, probing the long-range potential curves of the high charge states.

Experimental investigation of transient thermoelastic effects in dynamic fracture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rittel, D.

1997-01-01

Thermoelastic effects in fracture are generally considered to be negligible at the benefit of the conversion of plastic work into heat. For the case of dynamic crack initiation, the experimental and theoretical emphasis has been put on the temperature rise associated with crack-tip plasticity. Nevertheless, earlier experimental work with polymers has shown that thermoelastic cooling precedes the temperature rise at the tip of a propagating crack (Fuller et al., 1975). Transient thermoelastic effects at the tip of a dynamically loaded crack have been theoretically assessed and shown to be significant when thermal conductivity is initially neglected. However, the fundamental question of the relation between crack initiation and thermal fields, both of transient nature, is still open. In this paper, we present an experimental investigation of the thermoelastic effect at the tip of fatigue cracks subjected to mixed-mode (dominant mode 1) dynamic loading. The material is commercial polymethylmethacrylate as an example of 'brittle' material. The applied loads, crack-tip temperatures and fracture time are simultaneously monitored to provide a more complete image of dynamic crack initiation. The corresponding evolution of the stress intensity factors is calculated by a hybrid-experimental numerical model. The results show that substantial crack-tip cooling develops initially to an extent which corroborates theoretical estimates. This effect is followed by a temperature rise. Fracture is shown to initiate during the early cooling phase, thus emphasizing the relevance of the phenomenon to dynamic crack initiation in this material as probably in other materials. (author)

Experimental investigation and modeling of dynamic performance of wave springs

OpenAIRE

Tang, N.; Rongong, J.; Lord, C.; Sims, N.

2016-01-01

This paper investigates vibration suppression potentials for a novel frictional system - a wave spring.\\ud Two different types of wave springs, crest-to-crest and nested ones, were used in this work. Compared with\\ud nested wave springs, crest-to-crest wave springs have lower damping and a larger range for the linear stiffness\\ud due to a reduced level of contact. Dynamic compressive tests, subject to different static compression levels,\\ud are carried out to investigate the force-displacemen...

Methods for dynamic investigations of surface-attached in vitro bacterial and fungal biofilms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sternberg, Claus; Bjarnsholt, Thomas; Shirtliff, Mark

2014-01-01

Three dynamic models for the investigation of in vitro biofilm formation are described in this chapter. In the 6-well plate assay presented here, the placing of the plate on a rotating platform provides shear, thereby making the system dynamic with respect to the static microtiter assay.The second...... reported model, especially suitable for harvesting high amounts of cells for transcriptomic or proteomic investigations, is based on numerous glass beads placed in a flask incubated with shaking on a rotating platform, thus increasing the surface area for biofilm formation. Finally, the flow-cell system...

Investigating the Problem Solving Competency of Pre Service Teachers in Dynamic Geometry Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Haja, Shajahan

2005-01-01

This study investigated the problem-solving competency of four secondary pre service teachers (PSTs) of University of London as they explored geometry problems in dynamic geometry environment (DGE) in 2004. A constructivist experiment was designed in which dynamic software Cabri-Geometre II (hereafter Cabri) was used as an interactive medium.…

Getting to the Edge: Protein dynamical networks as a new frontier in plant-microbe interactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cassandra C Garbutt

2014-06-01

Full Text Available A systems perspective on diverse phenotypes, mechanisms of infection, and responses to environmental stresses can lead to considerable advances in agriculture and medicine. A significant promise of systems biology within plants is the development of disease-resistant crop varieties, which would maximize yield output for food, clothing, building materials and biofuel production. A systems or -omics perspective frames the next frontier in the search for enhanced knowledge of plant network biology. The functional understanding of network structure and dynamics s is vital to expanding our knowledge of how the intercellular communication processes are executed. . This review article will systematically discuss various levels of organization of systems biology beginning with the building blocks termed –omes and ending with complex transcriptional and protein-protein interaction networks. We will also highlight the prevailing computational modeling approaches of biological regulatory network dynamics. The latest developments in the -omics approach will be reviewed and discussed to underline and highlight novel technologies and research directions in plant network biology.

Investigations on detonation shock dynamics and related topics. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stewart, D.S. [Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States). Dept. of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics

1993-11-01

This document is a final report that summarizes the research findings and research activities supported by the subcontract DOE-LANL-9-XG8-3931P-1 between the University of Illinois (D. S. Stewart Principal Investigator) and the University of California (Los Alamos National Laboratory, M-Division). The main focus of the work has been on investigations of Detonation Shock Dynamics. A second emphasis has been on modeling compaction of energetic materials and deflagration to detonation in those materials. The work has led to a number of extensions of the theory of Detonation Shock Dynamics (DSD) and its application as an engineering design method for high explosive systems. The work also enhanced the hydrocode capabilities of researchers in M-Division by modifications to CAVEAT, an existing Los Alamos hydrocode. Linear stability studies of detonation flows were carried out for the purpose of code verification. This work also broadened the existing theory for detonation. The work in this contract has led to the development of one-phase models for dynamic compaction of porous energetic materials and laid the groundwork for subsequent studies. Some work that modeled the discrete heterogeneous behavior of propellant beds was also performed. The contract supported the efforts of D. S. Stewart and a Postdoctoral student H. I. Lee at the University of Illinois.

Investigating Ebola virus pathogenicity using molecular dynamics.