Journal Articles

Selective refinement and selection of near-native models in protein structure prediction

ABSTRACT

In recent years in silico protein structure prediction reached a level where fully automated servers can generate large pools of near-native structures. However, the identification and further refinement of the best structures from the pool of models remain problematic. To address these issues, we have developed (i) a target-specific selective refinement (SR) protocol; and (ii) molecular dynamics (MD) simulation based ranking (SMDR) method. In SR the all-atom refinement of structures is accomplished via the Rosetta Relax protocol, subject to specific constraints determined by the size and complexity of the target. The best-refined models are selected with SMDR by testing their relative stability against gradual heating through all-atom MD simulations. Through extensive testing we have found that Mufold-MD, our fully automated protein structure prediction server updated with the SR and SMDR modules consistently outperformed its previous versions. Proteins 2015; 83:1823–1835. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Categories: Journal Articles

Evolutionary and structural analyses of heterodimeric proteins composed of subunits with same fold

ABSTRACT

Heterodimeric proteins with homologous subunits of same fold are involved in various biological processes. The objective of this study is to understand the evolution of structural and functional features of such heterodimers. Using a non-redundant dataset of 70 such heterodimers of known 3D structure and an independent dataset of 173 heterodimers from yeast, we note that the mean sequence identity between interacting homologous subunits is only 23–24% suggesting that, generally, highly diverged paralogues assemble to form such a heterodimer. We also note that the functional roles of interacting subunits/domains are generally quite different. This suggests that, though the interacting subunits/domains are homologous, the high evolutionary divergence characterize their high functional divergence which contributes to a gross function for the heterodimer considered as a whole. The inverse relationship between sequence identity and RMSD of interacting homologues in heterodimers is not followed. We also addressed the question of formation of homodimers of the subunits of heterodimers by generating models of fictitious homodimers on the basis of the 3D structures of the heterodimers. Interaction energies associated with these homodimers suggests that, in overwhelming majority of the cases, such homodimers are unlikely to be stable. Majority of the homologues of heterodimers of known structures form heterodimers (51.8%) and a small proportion (14.6%) form homodimers. Comparison of 3D structures of heterodimers with homologous homodimers suggests that interfacial nature of residues is not well conserved. In over 90% of the cases we note that the interacting subunits of heterodimers are co-localized in the cell. Proteins 2015; 83:1766–1786. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Categories: Journal Articles

Effect of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on the simulated D-band length of type I collagen

ABSTRACT

A signature feature of collagen is its axial periodicity visible in TEM as alternating dark and light bands. In mature, type I collagen, this repeating unit, D, is 67 nm long. This periodicity reflects an underlying packing of constituent triple-helix polypeptide monomers wherein the dark bands represent gaps between axially adjacent monomers. This organization is visible distinctly in the microfibrillar model of collagen obtained from fiber diffraction. However, to date, no atomistic simulations of this diffraction model under zero-stress conditions have reported a preservation of this structural feature. Such a demonstration is important as it provides the baseline to infer response functions of physiological stimuli. In contrast, simulations predict a considerable shrinkage of the D-band (11–19%). Here we evaluate systemically the effect of several factors on D-band shrinkage. Using force fields employed in previous studies we find that irrespective of the temperature/pressure coupling algorithms, assumed salt concentration or hydration level, and whether or not the monomers are cross-linked, the D-band shrinks considerably. This shrinkage is associated with the bending and widening of individual monomers, but employing a force field whose backbone dihedral energy landscape matches more closely with our computed CCSD(T) values produces a small D-band shrinkage of < 3%. Since this force field also performs better against other experimental data, it appears that the large shrinkage observed in earlier simulations is a force-field artifact. The residual shrinkage could be due to the absence of certain atomic-level details, such as glycosylation sites, for which we do not yet have suitable data. Proteins 2015; 83:1800–1812. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Categories: Journal Articles

Structural biology: Lipid gymnastics

Nature - Tue, 08/11/2015 - 23:00

Structural biology: Lipid gymnastics

Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/nature15202

Authors: Alice Verchère & Anant K. Menon

Crystal structures of the bacterial protein PglK uncover structural features that suggest how the protein 'flips' lipid-bound oligosaccharide molecules from one side of the cell membrane to the other. See Article p.433

Categories: Journal Articles

Structure and mechanism of an active lipid-linked oligosaccharide flippase

Nature - Tue, 08/11/2015 - 23:00

Structure and mechanism of an active lipid-linked oligosaccharide flippase

Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/nature14953

Authors: Camilo Perez, Sabina Gerber, Jérémy Boilevin, Monika Bucher, Tamis Darbre, Markus Aebi, Jean-Louis Reymond & Kaspar P. Locher

The flipping of membrane-embedded lipids containing large, polar head groups is slow and energetically unfavourable, and is therefore catalysed by flippases, the mechanisms of which are unknown. A prominent example of a flipping reaction is the translocation of lipid-linked oligosaccharides that serve as donors in

Categories: Journal Articles

SEC14L2 enables pan-genotype HCV replication in cell culture

Nature - Tue, 08/11/2015 - 23:00

SEC14L2 enables pan-genotype HCV replication in cell culture

Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/nature14899

Authors: Mohsan Saeed, Ursula Andreo, Hyo-Young Chung, Christine Espiritu, Andrea D. Branch, Jose M. Silva & Charles M. Rice

Since its discovery in 1989, efforts to grow clinical isolates of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in cell culture have met with limited success. Only the JFH-1 isolate has the capacity to replicate efficiently in cultured hepatoma cells without cell culture-adaptive mutations. We hypothesized that cultured cells lack one or more factors required for the replication of clinical isolates. To identify the missing factors, we transduced Huh-7.5 human hepatoma cells with a pooled lentivirus-based human complementary DNA (cDNA) library, transfected the cells with HCV subgenomic replicons lacking adaptive mutations, and selected for stable replicon colonies. This led to the identification of a single cDNA, SEC14L2, that enabled RNA replication of diverse HCV genotypes in several hepatoma cell lines. This effect was dose-dependent, and required the continuous presence of SEC14L2. Full-length HCV genomes also replicated and produced low levels of infectious virus. Remarkably, SEC14L2-expressing Huh-7.5 cells also supported HCV replication following inoculation with patient sera. Mechanistic studies suggest that SEC14L2 promotes HCV infection by enhancing vitamin E-mediated protection against lipid peroxidation. This provides a foundation for development of in vitro replication systems for all HCV isolates, creating a useful platform to dissect the mechanisms by which cell culture-adaptive mutations act.

Categories: Journal Articles

Constructing sequence-dependent protein models using coevolutionary information

Protein Science - Mon, 08/10/2015 - 23:22
Abstract

Recent developments in global statistical methodologies have advanced the analysis of large collections of protein sequences for coevolutionary information. Coevolution between amino acids in a protein arises from compensatory mutations that are needed to maintain the stability or function of a protein over the course of evolution. This gives rise to quantifiable correlations between amino acid sites within the multiple sequence alignment of a protein family. Here, we use the maximum entropy-based approach called mean field Direct Coupling Analysis (mfDCA) to infer a Potts model Hamiltonian governing the correlated mutations in a protein family. We use the inferred pairwise statistical couplings to generate the sequence-dependent heterogeneous interaction energies of a structure-based model (SBM) where only native contacts are considered. Considering the ribosomal S6 protein and its circular permutants as well as the SH3 protein, we demonstrate that these models quantitatively agree with experimental data on folding mechanisms. This work serves as a new framework for generating coevolutionary data-enriched models that can potentially be used to engineer key functional motions and novel interactions in protein systems.

Categories: Journal Articles
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