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Comprehensive density functional theory study on serine and related ions in gas phase: conformations, gas phase basicities, and acidities.

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been performed to investigate the gas-phase conformations of serine and its three related ions (serineH(+), serine(-), and serine(2-)). The full ensemble of possible conformations, 324 conformations for serine, 108 for serineH(+), 162 for serine(-) and 54 for serine(2-), were first surveyed at B3LYP/6-31G level, and then the obtained unique conformations were further refined at B3LYP/6-311+G level. From full optimizations, 74 unique conformations for seine, 14 for serineH(+), 11 for serine(-), and 4 for serine(2-) were located, and their relative energies were also determined at B3LYP/6-311+G level. Atoms in molecules (AIM) analysis was carried out to establish rigorous definition of hydrogen bonds. Six types of intramolecular H-bonds in conformers of serine, six types in serineH(+), three types in serine(-), and two types in serine(2-) were identified within the framework of AIM theory and their relative strengths were determined based on topological properties at bond critical points (BCPs) of H-bonds. The intramolecular H-bonds were demonstrated to play an important role in deciding the relative stability of conformations of amino acids and the related ions. The enthalpies and Gibbs free energies of protonation and deprotonation reactions of serine and its related ions were calculated at B3LYP/6-311+G//B3LYP/6-31G, and B3LYP/6-311+G//B3LYP/6-311+G level. The calculated results are both in excellent agreement with the experimental data. We demonstrate in this study that B3LYP is an efficient and accurate method to predict the thermochemical and structural parameters of amino acids and the related ions.

Journal Article↗

Travelling on the potential energy surfaces of carbohydrates: comparative application of an exhaustive systematic conformational search with an heuristic search.

The calculated ensembles found by a heuristic conformational search algorithm, CICADA, for three small carbohydrates, ethyl beta-lactoside, methyl alpha-D-galactoside, and methyl beta-D-galactoside, are evaluated in terms of their ability to reproduce time-averaged optical rotation and NMR data. A unique dynamic model for methyl beta-D-galactoside has been obtained by fitting experimental NOESY volumes to the theoretical ones elaborated from the CICADA ensemble internuclear distances with the model-free formalism. In the case of ethyl beta-lactoside, the CICADA ensemble is compared to that of an exhaustive systematic grid-search method. The CICADA algorithm proved to be a very efficient method to find most of the important minima on even very complex potential energy surfaces, and the spectral quality of the CICADA ensemble was found to be of equal quality, if not superior, to that of the exhaustive systematic grid-search method. The CICADA algorithm has several advantages over other conformational search algorithms: (1) It has polynomial dependence of dimensions on computer time in contrast to the grid search, which has exponential dependence, (2) the conformations found are free of artificial harmonic constraint potentials, (3) it passes all barriers amongst families of conformations on conformational hypersurface but spends almost all its time in the essential highly populated areas, (4) the inherent properties of the algorithm make rigorous minimization criteria superfluous and provide good convergence behavior, and (5) as an important spin-off, it provides low-energy interconversion pathways that can, amongst others, be used for estimating adiabatic rotational barriers.

Algorithms↗

Pharmacophore-based molecular docking to account for ligand flexibility.

Rapid computational mining of large 3D molecular databases is central to generating new drug leads. Accurate virtual screening of large 3D molecular databases requires consideration of the conformational flexibility of the ligand molecules. Ligand flexibility can be included without prohibitively increasing the search time by docking ensembles of precomputed conformers from a conformationally expanded database. A pharmacophore-based docking method whereby conformers of the same or different molecules are overlaid by their largest 3D pharmacophore and simultaneously docked by partial matches to that pharmacophore is presented. The method is implemented in DOCK 4.0.

Algorithms↗

Stiffness of the distal loop restricts the structural heterogeneity of the transition state ensemble in SH3 domains.

Protein engineering experiments and Phi(F)-value analysis of SH3 domains reveal that their transition state ensemble (TSE) is conformationally restricted, i.e. the fluctuations in the transition state (TS) structures are small. In the TS of src SH3 and alpha-spectrin SH3 the distal loop and the associated hairpin are fully structured, while the rest of the protein is relatively disordered. If native structure predominantly determines the folding mechanism, the findings for SH3 folds raise the question: What are the features of the native topology that determine the nature of the TSE? We propose that the presence of stiff loops in the native state that connect local structural elements (such as the distal hairpin in SH3 domains) conformationally restricts TSE. We validate this hypothesis using the simulations of a "control" system (16 residue beta-hairpin forming C-terminal fragment of the GBl protein) and its variants. In these fragments the role of bending rigidity in determining the nature of the TSE can be directly examined without complications arising from interactions with the rest of the protein. The TSE structures in the beta-hairpins are determined computationally using cluster analysis and limited Phi(F)-value analysis. Both techniques prove that the conformational heterogeneity decreases as the bending rigidity of the loop increases. To extend this finding to SH3 domains a measure of bending rigidity based on loop curvature, which utilizes native structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), is introduced. Using this measure we show that, with few exceptions, the ordering of stiffness of the distal, n-src, and RT loops in the 29 PDB structures of SH3 domains is conserved. Combining the simulation results for beta-hairpins and the analysis of PDB structures for SH3 domains, we propose that the stiff distal loop restricts the conformational fluctuations in the TSE. We also predict that constraining the distal loop to be preformed in the denatured ensemble should not alter the nature of TSE. On the other hand, if the amino and carboxy terminals are cross-linked to form a circular polypeptide chain, the pathways and TSs are altered. These contrasting scenarios are illustrated using simulations of cross-linked WT beta-hairpin fragments. Computations of bending rigidities for immunoglobulin-like domain proteins reveal no clear separation in the stiffness of their loops. In the beta-sandwich proteins, which have large fractions of non-local native contacts, the nature of the TSE cannot be apparently determined using purely local structural characteristics. Nevertheless, the measure of loop stiffness still provides qualitative predictions of the ordered regions in the TSE of Ig27 and TenFn3.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Structure of Arabidopsis thaliana At1g77540 protein, a minimal acetyltransferase from the COG2388 family.

We describe X-ray crystal and NMR solution structures of the protein coded for by Arabidopsis thaliana gene At1g77540.1 (At1g77540). The crystal structure was determined to 1.15 A with an R factor of 14.9% (Rfree = 17.0%) by multiple-wavelength anomalous diffraction using sodium bromide derivatized crystals. The ensemble of NMR conformers was determined with protein samples labeled with 15N and 13C + 15N. The X-ray structure and NMR ensemble were closely similar with rmsd 1.4 A for residues 8-93. At1g77540 was found to adopt a fold similar to that of GCN5-related N-acetyltransferases. Enzymatic activity assays established that At1g77540 possesses weak acetyltransferase activity against histones H3 and H4. Chemical shift perturbations observed in 15N-HSQC spectra upon the addition of CoA indicated that the cofactor binds and identified its binding site. The molecular details of this interaction were further elucidated by solving the X-ray structure of the At1g77540-CoA complex. This work establishes that the domain family COG2388 represents a novel class of acetyltransferase and provides insight into possible mechanistic roles of the conserved Cys76 and His41 residues of this family.

Acetylation↗

The solvation interface is a determining factor in peptide conformational preferences.

The 21 residue polyalanine-based F(s) peptide was studied using thousands of long, explicit solvent, atomistic molecular dynamics simulations that reached equilibrium at the ensemble level. Peptide conformational preference as a function of hydrophobicity was examined using a spectrum of explicit solvent models, and the peptide length-dependence of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic components of solvent-accessible surface area for several ideal conformational types was considered. Our results demonstrate how the character of the solvation interface induces several conformational preferences, including a decrease in mean helical content with increased hydrophilicity, which occurs predominantly through reduced nucleation tendency and, to a lesser extent, destabilization of helical propagation. Interestingly, an opposing effect occurs through increased propensity for 3(10)-helix conformations, as well as increased polyproline structure. Our observations provide a framework for understanding previous reports of conformational preferences in polyalanine-based peptides including (i) terminal 3(10)-helix prominence, (ii) low pi-helix propensity, (iii) increased polyproline conformations in short and unfolded peptides, and (iv) membrane helix stability in the presence and absence of water. These observations provide physical insight into the role of water in peptide conformational equilibria at the atomic level, and expand our view of the complexity of even the most "simple" of biopolymers. Whereas previous studies have focused predominantly on hydrophobic effects with respect to tertiary structure, this work highlights the need for consideration of such effects at the secondary structural level.

Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions↗

Folding of the villin headpiece subdomain from random structures. Analysis of the charge distribution as a function of pH.

The structure of the 36 residue villin headpiece subdomain is investigated with the electrostatically driven Monte Carlo method. The ECEPP/3 (Empirical Conformational Energy Program for Peptides) force field, plus two different continuum solvation models, were used to describe the conformational energy of the chain with both blocked and unblocked N and C termini. A statistical analysis of an ensemble of ab initio generated conformations was carried out, based on a comparison with a set of ten native-like structures derived from published experimental data, by using rigid geometry and NMR-derived constraints obtained at pH 3.7. The ten native-like structures satisfy the NMR-derived constraints. The whole ensemble of conformations of the terminally unblocked villin headpiece sub-domain, generated by using ECEPP/3 with a continuum solvation model, were subsequently evaluated at pH 3.7 with a potential function that includes ECEPP/3 combined with a fast multigrid boundary element method. At pH 3.7, the lowest-energy conformation found during the conformational search satisfies approximately 70% of both the distance and the dihedral-angle constraints, and possesses the characteristic packing of three phenylalanine residues that constitute the main part of the hydrophobic core of the molecule. On the other hand, computations at pH 3.7 and pH 7.0 for the ten native-like structures satisfying the NMR-derived constraints indicate a substantial change in the charge distribution for each type of amino acid residue with the change in pH. The results of this study provide a basis to understand the effect of the interactions, such as hydrophobicity, charge-charge interaction and solvent polarization, on the stability of this small alpha-helical protein.

Carrier Proteins↗

Ab initio construction of polypeptide fragments: Accuracy of loop decoy discrimination by an all-atom statistical potential and the AMBER force field with the Generalized Born solvation model.

The accuracy of model selection from decoy ensembles of protein loop conformations was explored by comparing the performance of the Samudrala-Moult all-atom statistical potential (RAPDF) and the AMBER molecular mechanics force field, including the Generalized Born/surface area solvation model. Large ensembles of consistent loop conformations, represented at atomic detail with idealized geometry, were generated for a large test set of protein loops of 2 to 12 residues long by a novel ab initio method called RAPPER that relies on fine-grained residue-specific phi/psi propensity tables for conformational sampling. Ranking the conformers on the basis of RAPDF scores resulted in selected conformers that had an average global, non-superimposed RMSD for all heavy mainchain atoms ranging from 1.2 A for 4-mers to 2.9 A for 8-mers to 6.2 A for 12-mers. After filtering on the basis of anchor geometry and RAPDF scores, ranking by energy minimization of the AMBER/GBSA potential energy function selected conformers that had global RMSD values of 0.5 A for 4-mers, 2.3 A for 8-mers, and 5.0 A for 12-mers. Minimized fragments had, on average, consistently lower RMSD values (by 0.1 A) than their initial conformations. The importance of the Generalized Born solvation energy term is reflected by the observation that the average RMSD accuracy for all loop lengths was worse when this term is omitted. There are, however, still many cases where the AMBER gas-phase minimization selected conformers of lower RMSD than the AMBER/GBSA minimization. The AMBER/GBSA energy function had better correlation with RMSD to native than the RAPDF. When the ensembles were supplemented with conformations extracted from experimental structures, a dramatic improvement in selection accuracy was observed at longer lengths (average RMSD of 1.3 A for 8-mers) when scoring with the AMBER/GBSA force field. This work provides the basis for a promising hybrid approach of ab initio and knowledge-based methods for loop modeling.

Algorithms↗

Preferred conformations of a linear RGD tripeptide.

Conformational study of RGD tripeptides in the nonhydrated and hydrated states was carried out using an empirical potential function ECEPP/3 and the hydration shell model in order to investigate preferred conformations and factors responsible for their stability. RGD tripeptides in the nonhydrated and hydrated states can be interpreted as existing as an ensemble of feasible conformations rather than as a single dominant conformation from the analysis of distributions of backbone conformations, hydrogen bonds and beta-turns. The different distributions of conformations for the neutral and zwitterionic RGD tripeptides in both states may indicate that the conformation of the RGD tripeptide is liable to depend on solvent polarity and pH values. beta-Turn populations for the neutral tripeptide in both states are reasonably consistent with NMR measurements on linear RGD-containing peptides. The degradation of RGD tripeptide seems to be attributed mainly to the hydrogen bonds between the Asp side-chain and the backbone of Asp residue or C-terminal NHMe group, rather than to the flexible backbones of Gly and Asp residues.

Aspartic Acid↗

Assembly of protein tertiary structures from fragments with similar local sequences using simulated annealing and Bayesian scoring functions.

We explore the ability of a simple simulated annealing procedure to assemble native-like structures from fragments of unrelated protein structures with similar local sequences using Bayesian scoring functions. Environment and residue pair specific contributions to the scoring functions appear as the first two terms in a series expansion for the residue probability distributions in the protein database; the decoupling of the distance and environment dependencies of the distributions resolves the major problems with current database-derived scoring functions noted by Thomas and Dill. The simulated annealing procedure rapidly and frequently generates native-like structures for small helical proteins and better than random structures for small beta sheet containing proteins. Most of the simulated structures have native-like solvent accessibility and secondary structure patterns, and thus ensembles of these structures provide a particularly challenging set of decoys for evaluating scoring functions. We investigate the effects of multiple sequence information and different types of conformational constraints on the overall performance of the method, and the ability of a variety of recently developed scoring functions to recognize the native-like conformations in the ensembles of simulated structures.

Bayes Theorem↗

Free-energy landscape of the villin headpiece in an all-atom force field.

We investigate the landscape of the internal free-energy of the 36 amino acid villin headpiece with a modified basin hopping method in the all-atom force field PFF01, which was previously used to predictively fold several helical proteins with atomic resolution. We identify near native conformations of the protein as the global optimum of the force field. More than half of the twenty best simulations started from random initial conditions converge to the folding funnel of the native conformation, but several competing low-energy metastable conformations were observed. From 76,000 independently generated conformations we derived a decoy tree which illustrates the topological structure of the entire low-energy part of the free-energy landscape and characterizes the ensemble of metastable conformations. These emerge as similar in secondary content, but differ in tertiary arrangement.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A solution NMR study of the selectively 13C, 15N-labeled peptaibol chrysospermin C in methanol.

The conformation of the 19-residue peptaibol chrysospermin C in methanol has been investigated by NMR spectroscopy using selective 15N and 13C labeling of the alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) residues. Complete 1H and 13C sequential assignments, including stereospecific assignments for the heavily overlapped resonances from the two Cbeta methyl groups of the eight Aib residues, are reported for a peptaibol for the first time. An Aib residue followed by a Pro is an exception to previous suggestions regarding stereospecific assignment of the two Cbeta methyl groups of Aib residues. Local nuclear Overhauser effects and 3J(HNC') and 3J(HNCbeta) scalar couplings indicate that the phi angles of the Aib residues are restricted sterically to local conformations consistent with right-handed helices. Despite these constraints on the eight Aib residues, the NMR data for chrysospermin C in methanol are generally most consistent with an ensemble of transient conformations, including backbone conformations inconsistent with helical structures. Initial NMR measurements for chrysospermin C bound to micelles suggest structural and dynamic differences relative to alamethicin bound to micelles which may be related to differences in gating voltages for formation of ion channels.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Synergistic use of compound properties and docking scores in neural network modeling of CYP2D6 binding: predicting affinity and conformational sampling.

Cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) is used to develop an approach for predicting affinity and relevant binding conformation(s) for highly flexible binding sites. The approach combines the use of docking scores and compound properties as attributes in building a neural network (NN) model. It begins by identifying segments of CYP2D6 that are important for binding specificity, based on structural variability among diverse CYP enzymes. A family of distinct, low-energy conformations of CYP2D6 are generated using simulated annealing (SA) and a collection of 82 compounds with known CYP2D6 affinities are docked. Interestingly, docking poses are observed on the backside of the heme as well as in the known active site. Docking scores for the active site binders, along with compound-specific attributes, are used to train a neural network model to properly bin compounds as strong binders, moderate binders, or nonbinders. Attribute selection is used to preselect the most important scores and compound-specific attributes for the model. A prediction accuracy of 85+/-6% is achieved. Dominant attributes include docking scores for three of the 20 conformations in the ensemble as well as the compound's formal charge, number of aromatic rings, and AlogP. Although compound properties were highly predictive attributes (12% improvement over baseline) in the NN-based prediction of CYP2D6 binders, their combined use with docking score attributes is synergistic (net increase of 23% above baseline). Beyond prediction of affinity, attribute selection provides a way to identify the most relevant protein conformation(s), in terms of binding competence. In the case of CYP2D6, three out of the ensemble of 20 SA-generated structures are found to be the most predictive for binding.

Algorithms↗

Generating three-dimensional genome structures with a variational quantum algorithm.

Chromosome conformation capture experiments have revealed the underlying spatial interactions that govern three-dimensional (3D) genome organization and topology. Detecting 3D contacts between genomic loci considerably enhances our understanding of fundamental regulatory processes. Modeling 3D structures from experimental contact matrices can further contextualize the relationship between 3D genome organization and regulation. While classical algorithms have been successful in reconstructing genomic conformations, we investigate the prospect of quantum computation to aid in modeling the conformational space. In this context, we propose a novel variational quantum algorithm (VQA) to model the distribution of 3D genomic structures from experimental contact data. Through rigorous evaluations, we demonstrate the capability of our algorithm to sample ensembles of viable 3D conformations that agree well with experimental and simulated contact data. Furthermore, we extend our methodology to model the conformational space of a single cell or a population of cells. In the advent of sufficient quantum utility, the insights gained from this study can serve as a foundation for investigating high-resolution, large-scale ensembles of genomic conformations through generative VQAs.

Algorithms↗

Conformational fluctuations affect protein alignment in dilute liquid crystal media.

The discovery of dilute liquid crystalline media to align biological macromolecules has opened many new possibilities to study protein and nucleic acid structures by NMR spectroscopy. We inspect the basic alignment phenomenon for an ensemble of protein conformations to deduce relative contributions of each member to the residual dipolar coupling signals. We find that molecular fluctuations can affect the alignment and discover a resulting emphasis of certain conformations. However, the internal fluctuations are largely uncorrelated with those of the alignment, implying that proteins have liquidlike molecular surfaces. Furthermore, we consider the implications of a dynamic bias to structure determination using data from the weak alignment method.

Humans↗

Interplay between hydrophobic cluster and loop propensity in beta-hairpin formation: a mechanistic study.

We investigated the structural determinants of the stability of a designed beta-hairpin containing a natural hydrophobic cluster from the protein GB1 and a D-Pro-Gly turn forming sequence. The results of our simulations shed light on the factors leading to an ordered secondary structure in a model peptide: in particular, the importance of the so-called diagonal interactions in forming a stable hydrophobic nucleus in the beta-hairpin, together with the more obvious lateral interactions, is examined. With the use of long timescale MD simulations in explicit water, we show the role of diagonal interactions in driving the peptide to the correct folded structure (formation of the hydrophobic core with Trp 2, Tyr 4, and Phe 9 in the first stages of refolding) and in keeping it in the ensemble of folded conformations. The combination of the stabilizing effects of the D-Pro-Gly turn sequence and of the hydrophobic nucleus formation thus favors the attainment of an ordered secondary structure compatible with the one determined experimentally. Moreover, our data underline the importance of the juxtapositions of the side chains of amino acids not directly facing each other in the three-dimensional structure. The combination of these interactions forces the peptide to sample a nonrandom portion of the conformational space, as can be seen in the rapid collapse to an ordered structure in the refolding simulation, and shows that the unfolded state can be closely correlated to the folded ensemble of structures, at least in the case of small model peptides.

Computer Simulation↗

The NMR solution structure of a mutant of the Max b/HLH/LZ free of DNA: insights into the specific and reversible DNA binding mechanism of dimeric transcription factors.

Basic region-helix1-loop-helix2-leucine zipper (b/H(1)LH(2)/LZ) transcription factors bind specific DNA sequence in their target gene promoters as dimers. Max, a b/H(1)LH(2)/LZ transcription factor, is the obligate heterodimeric partner of the related b/H(1)LH(2)/LZ proteins of the Myc and Mad families. These heterodimers specifically bind E-box DNA sequence (CACGTG) to activate (e.g. c-Myc/Max) and repress (e.g. Mad1/Max) transcription. Max can also homodimerize and bind E-box sequences in c-Myc target gene promoters. While the X-ray structure of the Max b/H(1)LH(2)/LZ/DNA complex and that of others have been reported, the precise sequence of events leading to the reversible and specific binding of these important transcription factors is still largely unknown. In order to provide insights into the DNA binding mechanism, we have solved the NMR solution structure of a covalently homodimerized version of a Max b/H(1)LH(2)/LZ protein with two stabilizing mutations in the LZ, and characterized its backbone dynamics from (15)N spin-relaxation measurements in the absence of DNA. Apart from minor differences in the pitch of the LZ, possibly resulting from the mutations in the construct, we observe that the packing of the helices in the H(1)LH(2) domain is almost identical to that of the two crystal structures, indicating that no important conformational change in these helices occurs upon DNA binding. Conversely to the crystal structures of the DNA complexes, the first 14 residues of the basic region are found to be mostly unfolded while the loop is observed to be flexible. This indicates that these domains undergo conformational changes upon DNA binding. On the other hand, we find the last four residues of the basic region form a persistent helical turn contiguous to H(1). In addition, we provide evidence of the existence of internal motions in the backbone of H(1) that are of larger amplitude and longer time-scale (nanoseconds) than the ones in the H(2) and LZ domain. Most interestingly, we note that conformers in the ensemble of calculated structures have highly conserved basic residues (located in the persistent helical turn of the basic region and in the loop) known to be important for specific binding in a conformation that matches that of the DNA-bound state. These partially prefolded conformers can directly fit into the major groove of DNA and as such are proposed to lie on the pathway leading to the reversible and specific DNA binding. In these conformers, the conserved basic side-chains form a cluster that elevates the local electrostatic potential and could provide the necessary driving force for the generation of the internal motions localized in the H(1) and therefore link structural determinants with the DNA binding function. Overall, our results suggests that the Max homodimeric b/H(1)LH(2)/LZ can rapidly and preferentially bind DNA sequence through transient and partially prefolded states and subsequently, adopt the fully helical bound state in a DNA-assisted mechanism or induced-fit.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Identification of a minimal subset of receptor conformations for improved multiple conformation docking and two-step scoring.

Docking and scoring are critical issues in virtual drug screening methods. Fast and reliable methods are required for the prediction of binding affinity especially when applied to a large library of compounds. The implementation of receptor flexibility and refinement of scoring functions for this purpose are extremely challenging in terms of computational speed. Here we propose a knowledge-based multiple-conformation docking method that efficiently accommodates receptor flexibility thus permitting reliable virtual screening of large compound libraries. Starting with a small number of active compounds, a preliminary docking operation is conducted on a large ensemble of receptor conformations to select the minimal subset of receptor conformations that provides a strong correlation between the experimental binding affinity (e.g., Ki, IC50) and the docking score. Only this subset is used for subsequent multiple-conformation docking of the entire data set of library (test) compounds. In conjunction with the multiple-conformation docking procedure, a two-step scoring scheme is employed by which the optimal scoring geometries obtained from the multiple-conformation docking are re-scored by a molecular mechanics energy function including desolvation terms. To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, we applied this integrated approach to the estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) system for which published binding affinity data were available for a series of structurally diverse chemicals. The statistical correlation between docking scores and experimental values was significantly improved from those of single-conformation dockings. This approach led to substantial enrichment of the virtual screening conducted on mixtures of active and inactive ERalpha compounds.

Protein Binding↗