The Effect of Increasing the Stability of Non-native Interactions on the Folding Landscape of the Bacterial Immunity Protein Im9

Size and topology modulate the effects of frustration in protein folding

The presence of conflicting interactions, or frustration, determines how fast biomolecules can explore their configurational landscapes. Recent experiments have provided cases of systems with slow reconfiguration dynamics, perhaps arising from frustration. While it is well known that protein folding speed and mechanism are strongly affected by the protein native structure, it is still unknown how the response to frustration is modulated by the protein topology. We explore the effects of nonnative interactions in the reconfigurational and folding dynamics of proteins with different sizes and topologies. We find that structural correlations related to the folded state size and topology play an important role in determining the folding kinetics of proteins that otherwise have the same amount of nonnative interactions. In particular, we find that the reconfiguration dynamics of α-helical proteins are more susceptible to frustration than β-sheet proteins of the same size. Our results may explain recent experimental findings and suggest that attempts to measure the degree of frustration due to nonnative interactions might be more successful with α-helical proteins.

Nonnative Energetic Frustrations in Protein Folding at Residual Level: A Simulation Study of Homologous Immunoglobulin-like β-Sandwich Proteins

Nonnative interactions cause energetic frustrations in protein folding and were found to dominate key events in folding intermediates. However, systematically characterizing energetic frustrations that are caused by nonnative intra-residue interactions at residual resolution is still lacking. Recently, we studied the folding of a set of homologous all-α proteins and found that nonnative-contact-based energetic frustrations are highly correlated to topology of the protein native-contact network. Here, we studied the folding of nine homologous immunoglobulin-like (Ig-like) β-sandwich proteins, and examined nonnative-contact-based energetic frustrations Gō-like model. Our calculations showed that nonnative-interaction-based energetic frustrations in β-sandwich proteins are much more complicated than those in all-α proteins, and they exhibit highly heterogeneous effects on the folding of secondary structures. Further, the nonnative interactions introduced distinct correlations in the folding of different folding-patches of β-sandwich proteins. Taken together, a strong interplay might exist between nonnative-interaction energetic frustrations and the protein native-contact networks, which ensures that β-sandwich domains adopt a common folding mechanism.

Molecular recognition and packing frustration in a helical protein

Biomolecular recognition entails attractive forces for the functional native states and discrimination against potential nonnative interactions that favor alternate stable configurations. The challenge posed by the competition of nonnative stabilization against native-centric forces is conceptualized as frustration. Experiment indicates that frustration is often minimal in evolved biological systems although nonnative possibilities are intuitively abundant. Much of the physical basis of minimal frustration in protein folding thus remains to be elucidated. Here we make progress by studying the colicin immunity protein Im9. To assess the energetic favorability of nonnative versus native interactions, we compute free energies of association of various combinations of the four helices in Im9 (referred to as H1, H2, H3, and H4) by extensive explicit-water molecular dynamics simulations (total simulated time > 300 μs), focusing primarily on the pairs with the largest native contact surfaces, H1-H2 and H1-H4. Frustration is detected in H1-H2 packing in that a nonnative packing orientation is significantly stabilized relative to native, whereas such a prominent nonnative effect is not observed for H1-H4 packing. However, in contrast to the favored nonnative H1-H2 packing in isolation, the native H1-H2 packing orientation is stabilized by H3 and loop residues surrounding H4. Taken together, these results showcase the contextual nature of molecular recognition, and suggest further that nonnative effects in H1-H2 packing may be largely avoided by the experimentally inferred Im9 folding transition state with native packing most developed at the H1-H4 rather than the H1-H2 interface.

Biomolecules need to recognize one another with high specificity: promoting “native” functional intermolecular binding events while avoiding detrimental “nonnative” bound configurations; i.e., “frustration”—the tendency for nonnative interactions—has to be minimized. Folding of globular proteins entails a similar discrimination. To gain physical insight, we computed the binding affinities of helical structures of the protein Im9 in various native or nonnative configurations by atomic simulations, discovering that partial packing of the Im9 core is frustrated. This frustration is overcome when the entire core of the protein is assembled, consistent with experiment indicating no significant kinetic trapping in Im9 folding. Our systematic analysis thus reveals a subtle, contextual aspect of biomolecular recognition and provides a general approach to characterize folding frustration.

Folding of apomyoglobin: Analysis of transient intermediate structure during refolding using quick hydrogen deuterium exchange and NMR

The structures of apomyoglobin folding intermediates have been widely analyzed using physical chemistry methods including fluorescence, circular dichroism, small angle X-ray scattering, NMR, mass spectrometry, and rapid mixing. So far, at least two intermediates (on sub-millisecond- and millisecond-scales) have been demonstrated for apomyoglobin folding. The combination of pH-pulse labeling and NMR is a useful tool for analyzing the kinetic intermediates at the atomic level. Its use has revealed that the latter-phase kinetic intermediate of apomyoglobin (6 ms) was composed of helices A, B, G and H, whereas the equilibrium intermediate, called the pH 4 molten-globule intermediate, was composed mainly of helices A, G and H. The improved strategy for the analysis of the kinetic intermediate was developed to include (1) the dimethyl sulfoxide method, (2) data processing with the various labeling times, and (3) a new in-house mixer. Particularly, the rapid mixing revealed that helices A and G were significantly more protected at the earlier stage (400 µs) of the intermediate (former-phase intermediate) than the other helices. Mutation studies, where each hydrophobic residue was replaced with an alanine in helices A, B, E, F, G and H, indicated that both non-native and native-like structures exist in the latter-phase folding intermediate. The N-terminal part of helix B is a weak point in the intermediate, and the docking of helix E residues to the core of the A, B, G and H helices was interrupted by a premature helix B, resulting in the accumulation of the intermediate composed of helices A, B, G and H. The prediction-based protein engineering produced important mutants: Helix F in a P88K/A90L/S92K/A94L mutant folded in the latter-phase intermediate, although helix F in the wild type does not fold even at the native state. Furthermore, in the L11G/W14G/A70L/G73W mutant, helix A did not fold but helix E did, which is similar to what was observed in the kinetic intermediate of apoleghemoglobin. Thus, this protein engineering resulted in a changed structure for the apomyoglobin folding intermediate.

Native contact density and nonnative hydrophobic effects in the folding of bacterial immunity proteins

The bacterial colicin-immunity proteins Im7 and Im9 fold by different mechanisms. Experimentally, at pH 7.0 and 10°C, Im7 folds in a three-state manner via an intermediate but Im9 folding is two-state-like. Accordingly, Im7 exhibits a chevron rollover, whereas the chevron arm for Im9 folding is linear. Here we address the biophysical basis of their different behaviors by using native-centric models with and without additional transferrable, sequence-dependent energies. The Im7 chevron rollover is not captured by either a pure native-centric model or a model augmented by nonnative hydrophobic interactions with a uniform strength irrespective of residue type. By contrast, a more realistic nonnative interaction scheme that accounts for the difference in hydrophobicity among residues leads simultaneously to a chevron rollover for Im7 and an essentially linear folding chevron arm for Im9. Hydrophobic residues identified by published experiments to be involved in nonnative interactions during Im7 folding are found to participate in the strongest nonnative contacts in this model. Thus our observations support the experimental perspective that the Im7 folding intermediate is largely underpinned by nonnative interactions involving large hydrophobics. Our simulation suggests further that nonnative effects in Im7 are facilitated by a lower local native contact density relative to that of Im9. In a one-dimensional diffusion picture of Im7 folding with a coordinate- and stability-dependent diffusion coefficient, a significant chevron rollover is consistent with a diffusion coefficient that depends strongly on native stability at the conformational position of the folding intermediate.

In order to fold correctly, a globular protein must avoid being trapped in wrong, i.e., nonnative conformations. Thus a biophysical account of how attractive nonnative interactions are bypassed by some amino acid sequences but not others is key to deciphering protein structure and function. We examine two closely related bacterial immunity proteins, Im7 and Im9, that are experimentally known to fold very differently: Whereas Im9 folds directly, Im7 folds through a mispacked conformational intermediate. A simple model we developed accounts for their intriguingly different folding kinetics in terms of a balance between the density of native-promoting contacts and the hydrophobicity of local amino acid sequences. This emergent principle is extensible to other biomolecular recognition processes.

The role of high-dimensional diffusive search, stabilization, and frustration in protein folding

Proteins are polymeric molecules with many degrees of conformational freedom whose internal energetic interactions are typically screened to small distances. Therefore, in the high-dimensional conformation space of a protein, the energy landscape is locally relatively flat, in contrast to low-dimensional representations, where, because of the induced entropic contribution to the full free energy, it appears funnel-like. Proteins explore the conformation space by searching these flat subspaces to find a narrow energetic alley that we call a hypergutter and then explore the next, lower-dimensional, subspace. Such a framework provides an effective representation of the energy landscape and folding kinetics that does justice to the essential characteristic of high-dimensionality of the search-space. It also illuminates the important role of nonnative interactions in defining folding pathways. This principle is here illustrated using a coarse-grained model of a family of three-helix bundle proteins whose conformations, once secondary structure has formed, can be defined by six rotational degrees of freedom. Two folding mechanisms are possible, one of which involves an intermediate. The stabilization of intermediate subspaces (or states in low-dimensional projection) in protein folding can either speed up or slow down the folding rate depending on the amount of native and nonnative contacts made in those subspaces. The folding rate increases due to reduced-dimension pathways arising from the mere presence of intermediate states, but decreases if the contacts in the intermediate are very stable and introduce sizeable topological or energetic frustration that needs to be overcome. Remarkably, the hypergutter framework, although depending on just a few physically meaningful parameters, can reproduce all the types of experimentally observed curvature in chevron plots for realizations of this fold.

Conserved prosegment residues stabilize a late-stage folding transition state of pepsin independently of ground states

The native folding of certain zymogen-derived enzymes is completely dependent upon a prosegment domain to stabilize the folding transition state, thereby catalyzing the folding reaction. Generally little is known about how the prosegment accomplishes this task. It was previously shown that the prosegment catalyzes a late-stage folding transition between a stable misfolded state and the native state of pepsin. In this study, the contributions of specific prosegment residues to catalyzing pepsin folding were investigated by introducing individual Ala substitutions and measuring the effects on the bimolecular folding reaction between the prosegment peptide and pepsin. The effects of mutations on the free energies of the individual misfolded and native ground states and the transition state were compared using measurements of prosegment-pepsin binding and folding kinetics. Five out of the seven prosegment residues examined yielded relatively large kinetic effects and minimal ground state perturbations upon mutation, findings which indicate that these residues form strengthened and/or non-native contacts in the transition state. These five residues are semi- to strictly conserved, while only a non-conserved residue had no kinetic effect. One conserved residue was shown to form native structure in the transition state. These results indicated that the prosegment, which is only 44 residues long, has evolved a high density of contacts that preferentially stabilize the folding transition state over the ground states. It is postulated that the prosegment forms extensive non-native contacts during the process of catalyzing correct inter- and intra-domain contacts during the final stages of folding. These results have implications for understanding the folding of multi-domain proteins and for the evolution of prosegment-catalyzed folding.

Energetic frustrations in protein folding at residue resolution: a homologous simulation study of Im9 proteins

Energetic frustration is becoming an important topic for understanding the mechanisms of protein folding, which is a long-standing big biological problem usually investigated by the free energy landscape theory. Despite the significant advances in probing the effects of folding frustrations on the overall features of protein folding pathways and folding intermediates, detailed characterizations of folding frustrations at an atomic or residue level are still lacking. In addition, how and to what extent folding frustrations interact with protein topology in determining folding mechanisms remains unclear. In this paper, we tried to understand energetic frustrations in the context of protein topology structures or native-contact networks by comparing the energetic frustrations of five homologous Im9 alpha-helix proteins that share very similar topology structures but have a single hydrophilic-to-hydrophobic mutual mutation. The folding simulations were performed using a coarse-grained Gō-like model, while non-native hydrophobic interactions were introduced as energetic frustrations using a Lennard-Jones potential function. Energetic frustrations were then examined at residue level based on φ-value analyses of the transition state ensemble structures and mapped back to native-contact networks. Our calculations show that energetic frustrations have highly heterogeneous influences on the folding of the four helices of the examined structures depending on the local environment of the frustration centers. Also, the closer the introduced frustration is to the center of the native-contact network, the larger the changes in the protein folding. Our findings add a new dimension to the understanding of protein folding the topology determination in that energetic frustrations works closely with native-contact networks to affect the protein folding.

Simplified protein models: predicting folding pathways and structure using amino acid sequences

We demonstrate the ability of simultaneously determining a protein's folding pathway and structure using a properly formulated model without prior knowledge of the native structure. Our model employs a natural coordinate system for describing proteins and a search strategy inspired by the observation that real proteins fold in a sequential fashion by incrementally stabilizing nativelike substructures or "foldons." Comparable folding pathways and structures are obtained for the twelve proteins recently studied using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations [K. Lindorff-Larsen, S. Piana, R. O. Dror, D. E. Shaw, Science 334, 517 (2011)], with our calculations running several orders of magnitude faster. We find that nativelike propensities in the unfolded state do not necessarily determine the order of structure formation, a departure from a major conclusion of the molecular dynamics study. Instead, our results support a more expansive view wherein intrinsic local structural propensities may be enhanced or overridden in the folding process by environmental context. The success of our search strategy validates it as an expedient mechanism for folding both in silico and in vivo.

De novo prediction of protein folding pathways and structure using the principle of sequential stabilization

Motivated by the relationship between the folding mechanism and the native structure, we develop a unified approach for predicting folding pathways and tertiary structure using only the primary sequence as input. Simulations begin from a realistic unfolded state devoid of secondary structure and use a chain representation lacking explicit side chains, rendering the simulations many orders of magnitude faster than molecular dynamics simulations. The multiple round nature of the algorithm mimics the authentic folding process and tests the effectiveness of sequential stabilization (SS) as a search strategy wherein 2° structural elements add onto existing structures in a process of progressive learning and stabilization of structure found in prior rounds of folding. Because no a priori knowledge is used, we can identify kinetically significant non-native interactions and intermediates, sometimes generated by only two mutations, while the evolution of contact matrices is often consistent with experiments. Moreover, structure prediction improves substantially by incorporating information from prior rounds. The success of our simple, homology-free approach affirms the validity of our description of the primary determinants of folding pathways and structure, and the effectiveness of SS as a search strategy.

A residue in helical conformation in the native state adopts a β-strand conformation in the folding transition state despite its high and canonical Φ-value

Delineating structures of the transition states in protein folding reactions has provided great insight into the mechanisms by which proteins fold. The most common method for obtaining this information is Φ-value analysis, which is carried out by measuring the changes in the folding and unfolding rates caused by single amino acid substitutions at various positions within a given protein. Canonical Φ-values range between 0 and 1, and residues displaying high values within this range are interpreted to be important in stabilizing the transition state structure, and to elicit this stabilization through native-like interactions. Although very successful in defining the general features of transition state structures, Φ-value analysis can be confounded when non-native interactions stabilize this state. In addition, direct information on backbone conformation within the transition state is not provided. In the work described here, we have investigated structure formation at a conserved β-bulge (with helical conformation) in the Fyn SH3 domain by characterizing the effects of substituting all natural amino acids at one position within this structural motif. By comparing the effects on folding rates of these substitutions with database-derived local structure propensity values, we have determined that this position adopts a non-native backbone conformation in the folding transition state. This result is surprising because this position displays a high and canonical Φ-value of 0.7. This work emphasizes the potential role of non-native conformations in folding pathways and demonstrates that even positions displaying high and canonical Φ-values may, nevertheless, adopt a non-native conformation in the transition state.

Energetics and mechanisms of folding and flipping the myristoyl switch in the {beta}-trefoil protein, hisactophilin

Myristoylation, the covalent linkage of a saturated, C(14) fatty acyl chain to the N-terminal glycine in a protein, plays a vital role in reversible membrane binding and signaling by the modified proteins. Currently, little is known about the effects of myristoylation on protein folding and stability, or about the energetics and molecular mechanisms of switching involving states with sequestered versus accessible myristoyl group. Our analysis of these effects in hisactophilin, a histidine-rich protein that binds cell membranes and actin in a pH-dependent manner, shows that myristoylation significantly increases hisactophilin stability, while also markedly increasing global protein folding and unfolding rates. The switching between sequestered and accessible states is pH dependent, with an apparent pK(switch) of 6.95, and an apparent free energy change of 2.0 kcal·mol(-1). The myristoyl switch is linked to the reversible uptake of ∼1.5 protons, likely by histidine residues. This pH dependence of switching appears to be the physical basis of the sensitive, pH-dependent regulation of membrane binding observed in vivo. We conclude that an increase in protein stability upon modification and burial of the attached group is likely to occur in numerous proteins modified with fatty acyl or other hydrophobic groups, and that the biophysical effects of such modification are likely to play an important role in their functional switches. In addition, the increased global dynamics caused by myristoylation of hisactophilin reveals a general mechanism whereby hydrophobic moieties can make nonnative interactions or relieve strain in transition states, thereby increasing the rates of interconversion between different states.

Nonnative interactions in coupled folding and binding processes of intrinsically disordered proteins

Proteins function by interacting with other molecules, where both native and nonnative interactions play important roles. Native interactions contribute to the stability and specificity of a complex, whereas nonnative interactions mainly perturb the binding kinetics. For intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), which do not adopt rigid structures when being free in solution, the role of nonnative interactions may be more prominent in binding processes due to their high flexibilities. In this work, we investigated the effect of nonnative hydrophobic interactions on the coupled folding and binding processes of IDPs and its interplay with chain flexibility by conducting molecular dynamics simulations. Our results showed that the free-energy profiles became rugged, and intermediate states occurred when nonnative hydrophobic interactions were introduced. The binding rate was initially accelerated and subsequently dramatically decreased as the strength of the nonnative hydrophobic interactions increased. Both thermodynamic and kinetic analysis showed that disordered systems were more readily affected by nonnative interactions than ordered systems. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the kinetic advantage of IDPs (“fly-casting” mechanism) was enhanced by nonnative hydrophobic interactions. The relationship between chain flexibility and protein aggregation is also discussed.

Roles of non-native hydrogen-bonding interaction in helix-coil transition of a single polypeptide as revealed by comparison between Gō-like and non-Gō models

To explore the role of non-native interactions in the helix-coil transition, a detailed comparison between a Gō-like model and a non-Gō model has been performed via lattice Monte Carlo simulations. Only native hydrogen bonding interactions occur in the Gō-like model, and the non-native ones with sequence interval more than 4 is also included into the non-Gō model. Some significant differences between the results from those two models have been found. The non-native hydrogen bonds were found most populated at temperature around the helix-coil transition. The rearrangement of non-native hydrogen bonds into native ones in the formation of alpha-helix leads to the increase of susceptibility of chain conformation, and even two peaks of susceptibility of radius of gyration versus temperature exist in the case of non-Gō model for a non-short peptide, while just a single peak exists in the case of Gō model for a single polypeptide chain with various chain lengths. The non-native hydrogen bonds have complicated the temperature-dependence of Zimm-Bragg nucleation constant. The increase of relative probability of non-native hydrogen bonding for long polypeptide chains leads to non-monotonous chain length effect on the transition temperature.

The origin of nonmonotonic complex behavior and the effects of nonnative interactions on the diffusive properties of protein folding

We present a method for calculating the configurational-dependent diffusion coefficient of a globular protein as a function of the global folding process. Using a coarse-grained structure-based model, we determined the diffusion coefficient, in reaction coordinate space, as a function of the fraction of native contacts formed Q for the cold shock protein (TmCSP). We find nonmonotonic behavior for the diffusion coefficient, with high values for the folded and unfolded ensembles and a lower range of values in the transition state ensemble. We also characterized the folding landscape associated with an energetically frustrated variant of the model. We find that a low-level of frustration can actually stabilize the native ensemble and increase the associated diffusion coefficient. These findings can be understood from a mechanistic standpoint, in that the transition state ensemble has a more homogeneous structural content when frustration is present. Additionally, these findings are consistent with earlier calculations based on lattice models of protein folding and more recent single-molecule fluorescence measurements.

Mutational studies uncover non-native structure in the dimeric kinetic intermediate of the H2A-H2B heterodimer

The folding pathway of the histone H2A-H2B heterodimer minimally includes an on-pathway, dimeric, burst-phase intermediate, I(2). The partially folded H2A and H2B monomers populated at equilibrium were characterized as potential monomeric kinetic intermediates. Folding kinetics were compared for initiation from isolated, folded monomers and the heterodimer unfolded in 4 M urea. The observed rates were virtually identical above 0.4 M urea, exhibiting a log-linear relationship on the final denaturant concentration. Below approximately 0.4 M urea (concentrations inaccessible from the 4-M urea unfolded state), a rollover in the rates was observed; this suggests that a component of the I(2) ensemble contains non-native structure that rearranges/isomerizes to a more native-like species. The contribution of helix propensity to the stability of the I(2) ensemble was assessed with a set of H2A-H2B mutants containing Ala and Gly replacements at nine sites, focusing mainly on the long, central alpha2 helix. Equilibrium and kinetic folding/unfolding data were collected to determine the effects of the mutations on the stability of I(2) and the transition state between I(2) and N(2). This limited mutational study indicated that residues in the alpha2 helices of H2A and H2B as well as alpha1 of H2B and both the C-terminus of alpha3 and the short alphaC helix of H2A contribute to the stability of the I(2) burst-phase species. Interestingly, at least eight of the nine targeted residues stabilize I(2) by interactions that are non-native to some extent. Given that destabilizing I(2) and these non-native interactions does not accelerate folding, it is concluded that the native and non-native structures present in the I(2) ensemble enable efficient folding of H2A-H2B.

What lessons can be learned from studying the folding of homologous proteins?

The studies of the folding of structurally related proteins have proved to be a very important tool for investigating protein folding. Here we review some of the insights that have been gained from such studies. Our highlighted studies show just how such an investigation should be designed and emphasise the importance of the synergy between experiment and theory. We also stress the importance of choosing the right system carefully, exploiting the excellent structural and sequence databases at our disposal.

Mutational investigation of protein folding transition states by Phi-value analysis and beyond: lessons from SH3 domain folding

Understanding how proteins adopt their unique native structures requires a complete structural characterization of the rate-limiting transition state(s) along the folding pathway. By definition, transition states are not significantly populated and are only accessible via folding kinetics studies. In this respect, interpreting the kinetic effects of amino acid substitutions (especially to Ala) via Phi-value analysis is the most common method to probe the structure of these transient, yet important states. A critical review of the key assumptions required for rigorous interpretation of Phi values reveals that a multiple substitution strategy in which a position of interest is mutated to a variety of amino acids, and not exclusively to Ala, provides the best means to characterize folding transition states. This approach has proven useful in revealing non-native interactions and (or) conformations in folding transition states. Moreover, by simultaneously examining the folding kinetics of multiple substitutions made at a single surface-exposed position using the Brønsted analysis the backbone conformation in a folding transition state can be investigated. For folding equilibria with exchange rates on the order of milliseconds, the kinetic parameters for Phi-value analysis can be obtained from NMR relaxation dispersion experiments, under fully native conditions, along with a wealth of high-resolution structural information about the states in exchange (native, denatured, and intermediate states that populate the pathway). This additional structural information, which is not readily obtained through stopped-flow based methods, can significantly facilitate the interpretation of Phi values because it often reports on the validity of the assumptions required for a rigorous interpretation of Phi values.

beta-Strand interactions at the domain interface critical for the stability of human lens gammaD-crystallin

Human age-onset cataracts are believed to be caused by the aggregation of partially unfolded or covalently damaged lens crystallin proteins; however, the exact molecular mechanism remains largely unknown. We have used microseconds of molecular dynamics simulations with explicit solvent to investigate the unfolding process of human lens gammaD-crystallin protein and its isolated domains. A partially unfolded folding intermediate of gammaD-crystallin is detected in simulations with its C-terminal domain (C-td) folded and N-terminal domain (N-td) unstructured, in excellent agreement with biochemical experiments. Our simulations strongly indicate that the stability and the folding mechanism of the N-td are regulated by the interdomain interactions, consistent with experimental observations. A hydrophobic folding core was identified within the C-td that is comprised of a and b strands from the Greek key motif 4, the one near the domain interface. Detailed analyses reveal a surprising non-native surface salt-bridge between Glu135 and Arg142 located at the end of the ab folded hairpin turn playing a critical role in stabilizing the folding core. On the other hand, an in silico single E135A substitution that disrupts this non-native Glu135-Arg142 salt-bridge causes significant destabilization to the folding core of the isolated C-td, which, in turn, induces unfolding of the N-td interface. These findings indicate that certain highly conserved charged residues, that is, Glu135 and Arg142, of gammaD-crystallin are crucial for stabilizing its hydrophobic domain interface in native conformation, and disruption of charges on the gammaD-crystallin surface might lead to unfolding and subsequent aggregation.

Desolvation and development of specific hydrophobic core packing during Im7 folding

Development of a tightly packed hydrophobic core drives the folding of water-soluble globular proteins and is a key determinant of protein stability. Despite this, there remains much to be learnt about how and when the hydrophobic core becomes desolvated and tightly packed during protein folding. We have used the bacterial immunity protein Im7 to examine the specificity of hydrophobic core packing during folding. This small, four-helix protein has previously been shown to fold via a compact three-helical intermediate state. Here, overpacking substitutions, in which residue side-chain size is increased, were used to examine the specificity and malleability of core packing in the folding intermediate and rate-limiting transition state. In parallel, polar groups were introduced into the Im7 hydrophobic core via Val→Thr or Phe→Tyr substitutions and used to determine the solvation status of core residues at different stages of folding. Over 30 Im7 variants were created allowing both series of substitutions to cover all regions of the protein structure. Φ-value analysis demonstrated that the major changes in Im7 core solvation occur prior to the population of the folding intermediate, with key regions involved in docking of the short helix III remaining solvent-exposed until after the rate-limiting transition state has been traversed. In contrast, overpacking core residues revealed that some regions of the native Im7 core are remarkably malleable to increases in side-chain volume. Overpacking residues in other regions of the Im7 core result in substantial (> 2.5 kJ mol^− 1) destabilisation of the native structure or even prevents efficient folding to the native state. This study provides new insights into Im7 folding; demonstrating that whilst desolvation occurs early during folding, adoption of a specifically packed core is achieved only at the very last step in the folding mechanism.

Analysis of the free-energy surface of proteins from reversible folding simulations

Computer generated trajectories can, in principle, reveal the folding pathways of a protein at atomic resolution and possibly suggest general and simple rules for predicting the folded structure of a given sequence. While such reversible folding trajectories can only be determined ab initio using all-atom transferable force-fields for a few small proteins, they can be determined for a large number of proteins using coarse-grained and structure-based force-fields, in which a known folded structure is by construction the absolute energy and free-energy minimum. Here we use a model of the fast folding helical λ-repressor protein to generate trajectories in which native and non-native states are in equilibrium and transitions are accurately sampled. Yet, representation of the free-energy surface, which underlies the thermodynamic and dynamic properties of the protein model, from such a trajectory remains a challenge. Projections over one or a small number of arbitrarily chosen progress variables often hide the most important features of such surfaces. The results unequivocally show that an unprojected representation of the free-energy surface provides important and unbiased information and allows a simple and meaningful description of many-dimensional, heterogeneous trajectories, providing new insight into the possible mechanisms of fast-folding proteins.

The process of protein folding is a complex transition from a disordered to an ordered state. Here, we simulate a specific fast-folding protein at the point at which the native and denatured states are at equilibrium and show that obtaining an accurate description of the mechanisms of folding and unfolding is far from trivial. Using simple quantities which quantify the degree of native order is, in the case of this protein, clearly misleading. We show that an unbiased representation of the free-energy surface can be obtained; using such a representation we are able to redesign the landscape and thus modify, upon site-specific “mutations”, the folding and unfolding rates. This leads us to formulate a hypothesis to explain the very fast folding of many proteins.

Probing the free energy landscape of the FBP28WW domain using multiple techniques

The free-energy landscape of a small protein, the FBP 28 WW domain, has been explored using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with alternative descriptions of the molecule. The molecular models used range from coarse-grained to all-atom with either an implicit or explicit treatment of the solvent. Sampling of conformation space was performed using both conventional and temperature-replica exchange MD simulations. Experimental chemical shifts and NOEs were used to validate the simulations, and experimental phi values both for validation and as restraints. This combination of different approaches has provided insight into the free energy landscape and barriers encountered by the protein during folding and enabled the characterization of native, denatured and transition states which are compatible with the available experimental data. All the molecular models used stabilize well defined native and denatured basins; however, the degree of agreement with the available experimental data varies. While the most detailed, explicit solvent model predicts the data reasonably accurately, it does not fold despite a simulation time 10 times that of the experimental folding time. The less detailed models performed poorly relative to the explicit solvent model: an implicit solvent model stabilizes a ground state which differs from the experimental native state, and a structure-based model underestimates the size of the barrier between the two states. The use of experimental phi values both as restraints, and to extract structures from unfolding simulations, result in conformations which, although not necessarily true transition states, appear to share the geometrical characteristics of transition state structures. In addition to characterizing the native, transition and denatured states of this particular system in this work, the advantages and limitations of using varying levels of representation are discussed.

Theoretical and experimental demonstration of the importance of specific nonnative interactions in protein folding

Many experimental and theoretical studies have suggested a significant role for nonnative interactions in protein folding pathways, but the energetic contributions of these interactions are not well understood. We have addressed the energetics and the position specificity of nonnative hydrophobic interactions by developing a continuum coarse-grained chain model with a native-centric potential augmented by sequence-dependent hydrophobic interactions. By modeling the effect of different hydrophobicity values at various positions in the Fyn SH3 domain, we predicted energetically significant nonnative interactions that led to acceleration or deceleration of the folding rate depending on whether they were more populated in the transition state or unfolded state. These nonnative contacts were centered on position 53 in the Fyn SH3 domain, which lies in an exposed position in a 3(10)-helix. The energetic importance of the predicted nonnative interactions was confirmed experimentally by folding kinetics studies combined with double mutant thermodynamic cycles. By attaining agreement of theoretical and experimental investigations, this study provides a compelling demonstration that specific nonnative interactions can significantly influence folding energetics. Moreover, we show that a coarse-grained model with a simple consideration of hydrophobicity is sufficient for the accurate prediction of kinetically important nonnative interactions.