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Biomedical subjects

Richard Lavery

Publications and source records attributed to Richard Lavery.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Cadherin mechanics and complexation: the importance of calcium binding.

E-cadherins belong to a family of membrane-bound, cellular adhesion proteins. Their adhesive properties mainly involve the two N-terminal extracellular domains (EC1 and EC2). The junctions between these domains are characterized by calcium ion binding sites, and calcium ions are essential for the correct functioning of E-cadherins. Calcium is believed to rigidify the extracellular portion of the protein, which, when complexed, adopts a rod-like conformation. Here, we use molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the dynamics of the EC1-2 portion of E-cadherin in the presence and in the absence of calcium ions. These simulations confirm that apo-cadherin shows much higher conformational flexibility on a nanosecond timescale than the calcium-bound form. It is also shown that although the apo-cadherin fragment can spontaneously complex potassium, these monovalent ions are incapable of rigidifying the interdomain junctions. In contrast, removal of the most solvent-exposed calcium ion at the EC1-2 junction does not significantly perturb the dynamical behavior of the fragment. We have also extended this study to the cis-dimer formed from two EC1-2 fragments, potentially involved in cellular adhesion. Here again, it is shown that the presence of calcium is an important factor in both rigidifying and stabilizing the complex.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed2005

Molecular dynamics simulations of the 136 unique tetranucleotide sequences of DNA oligonucleotides. II: sequence context effects on the dynamical structures of the 10 unique dinucleotide steps.

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations including water and counterions on B-DNA oligomers containing all 136 unique tetranucleotide basepair steps are reported. The objective is to obtain the calculated dynamical structure for at least two copies of each case, use the results to examine issues with regard to convergence and dynamical stability of MD on DNA, and determine the significance of sequence context effects on all unique dinucleotide steps. This information is essential to understand sequence effects on DNA structure and has implications on diverse problems in the structural biology of DNA. Calculations were carried out on the 136 cases embedded in 39 DNA oligomers with repeating tetranucleotide sequences, capped on both ends by GC pairs and each having a total length of 15 nucleotide pairs. All simulations were carried out using a well-defined state-of-the-art MD protocol, the AMBER suite of programs, and the parm94 force field. In a previous article (Beveridge et al. 2004. Biophysical Journal. 87:3799-3813), the research design, details of the simulation protocol, and informatics issues were described. Preliminary results from 15 ns MD trajectories were presented for the d(CpG) step in all 10 unique sequence contexts. The results indicated the sequence context effects to be small for this step, but revealed that MD on DNA at this length of trajectory is subject to surprisingly persistent cooperative transitions of the sugar-phosphate backbone torsion angles alpha and gamma. In this article, we report detailed analysis of the entire trajectory database and occurrence of various conformational substates and its impact on studies of context effects. The analysis reveals a possible direct correspondence between the sequence-dependent dynamical tendencies of DNA structure and the tendency to undergo transitions that "trap" them in nonstandard conformational substates. The difference in mean of the observed basepair step helicoidal parameter distribution with different flanking sequence sometimes differs by as much as one standard deviation, indicating that the extent of sequence effects could be significant. The observations reveal that the impact of a flexible dinucleotide such as CpG could extend beyond the immediate basepair neighbors. The results in general provide new insight into MD on DNA and the sequence-dependent dynamical structural characteristics of DNA.

Base Pairing↗
PubMed2005

Macromolecular recognition.

Computational methods are being developed both to detect the binding surfaces of individual macromolecules and to predict the structure of binary macromolecular complexes. Speeding up and refining this process has required work on search algorithms, molecular representations and interaction potentials. Although backbone flexibility and solvent effects continue to pose problems, encouraging results have been obtained for both protein-protein and protein-DNA complexes.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2004

Looking into DNA recognition: zinc finger binding specificity.

We present a quantitative, theoretical analysis of the recognition mechanisms used by two zinc finger proteins: Zif268, which selectively binds to GC-rich sequences, and a Zif268 mutant, which binds to a TATA box site. This analysis is based on a recently developed method (ADAPT), which allows binding specificity to be analyzed via the calculation of complexation energies for all possible DNA target sequences. The results obtained with the zinc finger proteins show that, although both mainly select their targets using direct, pairwise protein-DNA interactions, they also use sequence-dependent DNA deformation to enhance their selectivity. A new extension of our methodology enables us to determine the quantitative contribution of these two components and also to measure the contributions of individual residues to overall specificity. The results show that indirect recognition is particularly important in the case of the TATA box binding mutant, accounting for 30% of the total selectivity. The residue-by-residue analysis of the protein-DNA interaction energy indicates that the existence of amino acid-base contacts does not necessarily imply sequence selectivity, and that side chains without contacts can nevertheless contribute to defining the protein's target sequence.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed2004

Molecular dynamics simulations of the 136 unique tetranucleotide sequences of DNA oligonucleotides. I. Research design and results on d(CpG) steps.

We describe herein a computationally intensive project aimed at carrying out molecular dynamics (MD) simulations including water and counterions on B-DNA oligomers containing all 136 unique tetranucleotide base sequences. This initiative was undertaken by an international collaborative effort involving nine research groups, the "Ascona B-DNA Consortium" (ABC). Calculations were carried out on the 136 cases imbedded in 39 DNA oligomers with repeating tetranucleotide sequences, capped on both ends by GC pairs and each having a total length of 15 nucleotide pairs. All MD simulations were carried out using a well-defined protocol, the AMBER suite of programs, and the parm94 force field. Phase I of the ABC project involves a total of approximately 0.6 mus of simulation for systems containing approximately 24,000 atoms. The resulting trajectories involve 600,000 coordinate sets and represent approximately 400 gigabytes of data. In this article, the research design, details of the simulation protocol, informatics issues, and the organization of the results into a web-accessible database are described. Preliminary results from 15-ns MD trajectories are presented for the d(CpG) step in its 10 unique sequence contexts, and issues of stability and convergence, the extent of quasiergodic problems, and the possibility of long-lived conformational substates are discussed.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2004

Myosin flexibility: structural domains and collective vibrations.

The movement of the myosin motor along an actin filament involves a directed conformational change within the cross-bridge formed between the protein and the filament. Despite the structural data that has been obtained on this system, little is known of the mechanics of this conformational change. We have used existing crystallographic structures of three conformations of the myosin head, containing the motor domain and the lever arm, for structural comparisons and mechanical studies with a coarse-grained elastic network model. The results enable us to define structurally conserved domains within the protein and to better understand myosin flexibility. Notably they point to the role of the light chains in rigidifying the lever arm and to changes in flexibility as a consequence of nucleotide binding.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Analyzing protein-DNA recognition mechanisms.

We present a computational algorithm that can be used to analyze the generic mechanisms involved in protein-DNA recognition. Our approach is based on energy calculations for the full set of base sequences that can be threaded onto the DNA within a protein-DNA complex. It is able to reproduce experimental consensus binding sequences for a variety of DNA binding proteins and also correlates well with the order of measured binding free energies. These results suggest that the crystal structure of a protein-DNA complex can be used to identify all potential binding sequences. By analyzing the energy contributions that lead to base sequence selectivity, it is possible to quantify the concept of direct versus indirect recognition and to identify a new concept describing whether the protein-DNA interaction and DNA deformation terms select optimal binding sites by acting in accord or in disaccord.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2004

Probing protein mechanics: residue-level properties and their use in defining domains.

It is becoming clear that, in addition to structural properties, the mechanical properties of proteins can play an important role in their biological activity. It nevertheless remains difficult to probe these properties experimentally. Whereas single-molecule experiments give access to overall mechanical behavior, notably the impact of end-to-end stretching, it is currently impossible to directly obtain data on more local properties. We propose a theoretical method for probing the mechanical properties of protein structures at the single-amino acid level. This approach can be applied to both all-atom and simplified protein representations. The probing leads to force constants for local deformations and to deformation vectors indicating the paths of least mechanical resistance. It also reveals the mechanical coupling that exists between residues. Results obtained for a variety of proteins show that the calculated force constants vary over a wide range. An analysis of the induced deformations provides information that is distinct from that obtained with measures of atomic fluctuations and is more easily linked to residue-level properties than normal mode analyses or dynamic trajectories. It is also shown that the mechanical information obtained by residue-level probing opens a new route for defining so-called dynamical domains within protein structures.

Biophysics↗
PubMed2003

Docking macromolecules with flexible segments.

We address a major obstacle to macromolecular docking algorithms by presenting a new method that takes into account the induced conformational adjustment of flexible loops situated at a protein/macromolecule interface. The method, MC2, is based on a multiple copy representation of the loops, coupled with a Monte Carlo conformational search of the relative position of the macromolecules and their side chain conformations. The selection of optimal loop conformations takes place during Monte Carlo cycling by the iterative adjustment of the weight of each copy. We describe here the parameterization of the method and trials on a protein-DNA complex of known 3-D structure, involving the Drosophila prd paired domain protein and its target oligonucleotide Wenqing, X. et al., Cell 1995, 80, 639. We demonstrate that our algorithm can correctly configure and position this protein, despite its relatively complex interactions with both grooves of DNA.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2003

Base pair opening within B-DNA: free energy pathways for GC and AT pairs from umbrella sampling simulations.

The conformational pathways and the free energy variations for base opening into the major and minor grooves of a B-DNA duplex are studied using umbrella sampling molecular dynamics simulations. We compare both GC and AT base pair opening within a double-stranded d(GAGAGAGAGAGAG)* d(CTCTCTCTCTCTC) oligomer, and we are also able to study the impact of opening on the conformational and dynamic properties of DNA and on the surrounding solvent. The results indicate a two-stage opening process with an initial coupling of the movements of the bases within the perturbed base pair. Major and minor groove pathways are energetically comparable in the case of the pyrimidine bases, but the major groove pathway is favored for the larger purine bases. Base opening is coupled to changes in specific backbone dihedrals and certain helical distortions, including untwisting and bending, although all these effects are dependent on the particular base involved. Partial opening also leads to well defined water bridging sites, which may play a role in stabilizing the perturbed base pairs.

Base Pairing↗
PubMed2003

Motifs in nucleic acids: molecular mechanics restraints for base pairing and base stacking.

In building and refining nucleic acid structures, it is often desirable to enforce particular base pairing and/or base stacking interactions. Energy-based modeling programs with classical molecular mechanics force fields do not lend themselves to the easy imposition of penalty terms corresponding to such restraints, because the requirement that two bases lie in or near the same plane (pairing) or that they lie in parallel planes (stacking) cannot be easily expressed in terms of traditional interactions involving two atoms (bonds), three atoms (angles), or four atoms (torsions). Here we derive expressions that define a collection of pseudobonds and pseudoangles through which molecular mechanics restraints for base pairing and stacking can be imposed. We have implemented these restraints into the JUMNA package for modeling DNA and RNA structures. JUMNA scripts can specify base pairing with a variety of standard geometries (Watson-Crick, Hoogsteen, wobble, etc.), or with user-defined geometries; they can also specify stacking arrangements. We have also implemented "soft-core" functions to modify van der Waals and electrostatic interactions to avoid steric conflicts in particularly difficult refinements where two backbones need to pass through one another. Test cases are presented to show the utility of the method. The restraints could be adapted for implementation in other molecular mechanics packages.

Base Pairing↗
PubMed2002

Alpha/gamma transitions in the B-DNA backbone.

In the crystal structures of protein complexes with B-DNA, alpha and gamma DNA backbone torsion angles often exhibit non-canonical values. It is not known if these alternative backbone conformations are easily accessible in solution and can contribute to the specific recognition of DNA by proteins. We have analysed the coupled transition of the alpha and gamma torsion angles within the central GpC step of a B-DNA dodecamer by computer simulations. Five stable or metastable non-canonical alpha/gamma sub-states are found. The most favourable pathway from the canonical alpha/gamma structure to any unusual form involves a counter-rotation of alpha and gamma, via the trans conformation. However, the corresponding free energy indicates that spontaneous flipping of the torsions is improbable in free B-DNA. This is supported by an analysis of the available high resolution crystallographic structures showing that unusual alpha/gamma states are only encountered in B-DNA complexed to proteins. An analysis of the structural consequences of alpha/gamma transitions shows that the non-canonical backbone geometry influences essentially the roll and twist values and reduces the equilibrium dispersion of structural parameters. Our results support the hypothesis that unusual alpha/gamma backbones arise during protein-DNA complexation, assisting the fine structural adjustments between the two partners and playing a role in the overall complexation free energy.

Crystallography, X-Ray↗
PubMed2002

Base flipping in DNA: pathways and energetics studied with molecular dynamic simulations.

Carrying out chemistry on the bases of DNA, necessary for biological processes such as methylation or repair, requires flipping the base into an accessible position. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations are used to generate a free energy profile for flipping a cytosine base out of its helical stack in double-stranded DNA. The results shed light on the mechanics of this process by comparing routes for base flipping via the minor and major grooves.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed2002

Simulations of nucleic acids and their complexes.

Recent years have seen considerable progress in simulations of nucleic acids. Improvements in force fields, simulation techniques and protocols, and increasing computer power have all contributed to making nanosecond-scale simulations of both DNA and RNA commonplace. The results are already helping to explain how nucleic acids respond to their environment and to their base sequence and to reveal the factors underlying recognition processes by probing biologically important nucleic acid-protein interactions and medically important nucleic acid-drug complexation. This Account summarizes methodological progress and applications of molecular dynamics to nucleic acids over the past few years and tries to identify remaining challenges.

Computer Simulation↗