1
|
Lee XY, Van Eynde W, Helsen C, Willems H, Peperstraete K, De Block S, Voet A, Claessens F. Structural mechanism underlying variations in DNA binding by the androgen receptor. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2024; 241:106499. [PMID: 38604378 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2024.106499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
The androgen receptor (AR) is a steroid activated transcription factor which recognizes DNA motifs resembling inverted repeats of a conserved 5'-AGAACA-3'-like hexanucleotides separated by a three-nucleotide spacer from a similar, but less conserved hexanucleotide. Here, we report the structures of the human AR DNA binding domain (DBD) bound to two natural AREs (C3 and MTV) in head-to-head dimer conformations, diffracting at 2.05 Å and 2.25 Å, respectively. These structures help to explain the impact of androgen insensitivity mutations on the structure integrity, DNA binding and DBD dimerization. The binding affinity of the AR DBD to different DNA motifs were measured by the BioLayer Interferometry (BLI) and further validated by Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. This shows that the high binding affinity of the first DBD to the upstream 5'-AGAACA-3' motif induces the cooperative binding of the second DBD to the second hexanucleotide. Our data indicate identical interaction of the DBDs to the upstream hexanucleotides, while forming an induced closer contact of the second DBD on the non-canonical hexanucleotides. The variation in binding between the DBD monomers are the result of differences in DNA occupancy, protein-protein interactions, DNA binding affinity, and DNA binding energy profiles. We propose this has functional consequences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Yin Lee
- Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Campus Gasthuisberg ON1 Herestraat 49 - box 901, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Wout Van Eynde
- Department of Chemistry, Laboratory of Biomolecular Modelling and Design, Heverlee 3001, Belgium
| | - Christine Helsen
- Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Campus Gasthuisberg ON1 Herestraat 49 - box 901, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Hanne Willems
- Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Campus Gasthuisberg ON1 Herestraat 49 - box 901, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Kaat Peperstraete
- Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Campus Gasthuisberg ON1 Herestraat 49 - box 901, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Sofie De Block
- Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Campus Gasthuisberg ON1 Herestraat 49 - box 901, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Arnout Voet
- Department of Chemistry, Laboratory of Biomolecular Modelling and Design, Heverlee 3001, Belgium
| | - Frank Claessens
- Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Campus Gasthuisberg ON1 Herestraat 49 - box 901, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Koca Fındık B, Jafari M, Song LF, Li Z, Aviyente V, Merz KM. Binding of Phosphate Species to Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ in Aqueous Solution. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:4298-4307. [PMID: 38718258 PMCID: PMC11137831 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Revised: 04/27/2024] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Phosphate derivatives and their interaction with metal cations are involved in many important biological phenomena, so an accurate characterization of the phosphate-metal interaction is necessary to properly understand the role of phosphate-metal contacts in mediating biological function. Herein, we improved the standard 12-6 Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential via the usage of the 12-6-4 LJ model, which incorporates ion-induced dipole interactions. Via parameter scanning, we fine-tuned the 12-6-4 LJ polarizability values to obtain accurate absolute binding free energies for the phosphate anions H2PO4-, HPO42-, PO43- coordinating with Ca2+ and Mg2+. First, we modified the phosphate 12-6-4 LJ parameters to reproduce the solvation free energies of the series of phosphate anions using the thermodynamic integration (TI) method. Then, using the potential mean force (PMF) method, the polarizability of the metal-phosphate interaction was obtained. We show that the free energy profiles of phosphate ions coordinated to Ca2+ and Mg2+ generally show similar trends at longer metal-phosphate distances, while the absolute binding energy values increased with deprotonation. The resulting parameters demonstrate the flexibility of the 12-6-4 LJ-type nonbonded model and its usefulness in accurately describing cation-anion interactions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Basak Koca Fındık
- Department
of Chemistry, Bogazici University, Bebek, Istanbul 34342, Turkey
| | - Majid Jafari
- Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan
State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Lin Frank Song
- Biochemical
and Biophysical Systems Group, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, United States
| | - Zhen Li
- Department
of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Viktorya Aviyente
- Department
of Chemistry, Bogazici University, Bebek, Istanbul 34342, Turkey
| | - Kenneth M. Merz
- Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan
State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
- Department
of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Goswami A, Peña-Torres A, Jónsson EÖ, Egorov SA, Jónsson H. Evidence of Sharp Transitions between Octahedral and Capped Trigonal Prism States of the Solvation Shell of the Aqueous Fe 3+ Ion. J Phys Chem Lett 2024; 15:4523-4530. [PMID: 38634894 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c00756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
The structure of the solvation shell of the aqueous Fe3+ ion has been a subject of controversy due to discrepancies between experiments and different levels of theory. We address this issue by performing simulations for a wide range of ion concentrations, using various potential energy functions, supplemented by density functional theory calculations of selected configurations. The solvation shell undergoes abrupt transitions between two states: a hexacoordinated octahedral (OH) state and a capped trigonal prism (CTP) state with 7-fold coordination. The lifetime of these states is dependent on concentration. In dilute FeCl3 solutions, the lifetimes of both are similar (≈1 ns). However, the lifetime of the OH state increases with ion concentration, while that of the CTP state decreases slightly. When a uniform negative background charge is used instead of explicit counterions, the lifetime of the OH state is greatly overestimated. These findings underscore the need for further experimental measurements and higher-level simulations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amrita Goswami
- Science Institute and Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Iceland, VR-III, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Alejandro Peña-Torres
- Science Institute and Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Iceland, VR-III, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Elvar Ö Jónsson
- Science Institute and Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Iceland, VR-III, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Sergei A Egorov
- Science Institute and Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Iceland, VR-III, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901, United States
| | - Hannes Jónsson
- Science Institute and Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Iceland, VR-III, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Khatua P, Tang PK, Ghosh Moulick A, Patel R, Manandhar A, Loverde SM. Sequence Dependence in Nucleosome Dynamics. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:3090-3101. [PMID: 38530903 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c07363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
The basic packaging unit of eukaryotic chromatin is the nucleosome that contains 145-147 base pair duplex DNA wrapped around an octameric histone protein. While the DNA sequence plays a crucial role in controlling the positioning of the nucleosome, the molecular details behind the interplay between DNA sequence and nucleosome dynamics remain relatively unexplored. This study analyzes this interplay in detail by performing all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of nucleosomes, comparing the human α-satellite palindromic (ASP) and the strong positioning "Widom-601" DNA sequence at time scales of 12 μs. The simulations are performed at salt concentrations 10-20 times higher than physiological salt concentrations to screen the electrostatic interactions and promote unwrapping. These microsecond-long simulations give insight into the molecular-level sequence-dependent events that dictate the pathway of DNA unwrapping. We find that the "ASP" sequence forms a loop around SHL ± 5 for three sets of simulations. Coincident with loop formation is a cooperative increase in contacts with the neighboring N-terminal H2B tail and C-terminal H2A tail and the release of neighboring counterions. We find that the Widom-601 sequence exhibits a strong breathing motion of the nucleic acid ends. Coincident with the breathing motion is the collapse of the full N-terminal H3 tail and formation of an α-helix that interacts with the H3 histone core. We postulate that the dynamics of these histone tails and their modification with post-translational modifications (PTMs) may play a key role in governing this dynamics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Prabir Khatua
- Department of Chemistry, College of Staten Island, The City University of New York, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10314, United States
| | - Phu K Tang
- Department of Chemistry, College of Staten Island, The City University of New York, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10314, United States
- Ph.D. Program in Biochemistry, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, New York 10016, United States
| | - Abhik Ghosh Moulick
- Department of Chemistry, College of Staten Island, The City University of New York, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10314, United States
| | - Rutika Patel
- Department of Chemistry, College of Staten Island, The City University of New York, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10314, United States
- Ph.D. Program in Biochemistry, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, New York 10016, United States
| | - Anjela Manandhar
- Department of Chemistry, College of Staten Island, The City University of New York, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10314, United States
- Ph.D. Program in Biochemistry, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, New York 10016, United States
| | - Sharon M Loverde
- Department of Chemistry, College of Staten Island, The City University of New York, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10314, United States
- Ph.D. Program in Biochemistry, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, New York 10016, United States
- Ph.D. Program in Chemistry, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, New York 10016, United States
- Ph.D. Program in Physics, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, New York 10016, United States
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Sarkar R, Mainan A, Roy S. Influence of ion and hydration atmospheres on RNA structure and dynamics: insights from advanced theoretical and computational methods. Chem Commun (Camb) 2024. [PMID: 38501190 DOI: 10.1039/d3cc06105a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
RNA, a highly charged biopolymer composed of negatively charged phosphate groups, defies electrostatic repulsion to adopt well-defined, compact structures. Hence, the presence of positively charged metal ions is crucial not only for RNA's charge neutralization, but they also coherently decorate the ion atmosphere of RNA to stabilize its compact fold. This feature article elucidates various modes of close RNA-ion interactions, with a special emphasis on Mg2+ as an outer-sphere and inner-sphere ion. Through examples, we highlight how inner-sphere chelated Mg2+ stabilizes RNA pseudoknots, while outer-sphere ions can also exert long-range electrostatic interactions, inducing groove narrowing, coaxial helical stacking, and RNA ring formation. In addition to investigating the RNA's ion environment, we note that the RNA's hydration environment is relatively underexplored. Our study delves into its profound interplay with the structural dynamics of RNA, employing state-of-the-art atomistic simulation techniques. Through examples, we illustrate how specific ions and water molecules are associated with RNA functions, leveraging atomistic simulations to identify preferential ion binding and hydration sites. However, understanding their impact(s) on the RNA structure remains challenging due to the involvement of large length and long time scales associated with RNA's dynamic nature. Nevertheless, our contributions and recent advances in coarse-grained simulation techniques offer insights into large-scale structural changes dynamically linked to the RNA ion atmosphere. In this connection, we also review how different cutting-edge computational simulation methods provide a microscopic lens into the influence of ions and hydration on RNA structure and dynamics, elucidating distinct ion atmospheric components and specific hydration layers and their individual and collective impacts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Raju Sarkar
- Department of Chemical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, West Bengal 741246, India.
| | - Avijit Mainan
- Department of Chemical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, West Bengal 741246, India.
| | - Susmita Roy
- Department of Chemical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, West Bengal 741246, India.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Wang M, Xiong Q, Wang M, Lewis NHC, Ying D, Yan G, Hoenig E, Han Y, Lee OS, Peng G, Zhou H, Schatz GC, Liu C. Lanthanide transport in angstrom-scale MoS 2-based two-dimensional channels. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadh1330. [PMID: 38489373 PMCID: PMC10942105 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh1330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
Rare earth elements (REEs), critical to modern industry, are difficult to separate and purify, given their similar physicochemical properties originating from the lanthanide contraction. Here, we systematically study the transport of lanthanide ions (Ln3+) in artificially confined angstrom-scale two-dimensional channels using MoS2-based building blocks in an aqueous environment. The results show that the uptake and permeability of Ln3+ assume a well-defined volcano shape peaked at Sm3+. This transport behavior is rooted from the tradeoff between the barrier for dehydration and the strength of interactions of lanthanide ions in the confinement channels, reminiscent of the Sabatier principle. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that Sm3+, with moderate hydration free energy and intermediate affinity for channel interaction, exhibit the smallest dehydration degree, consequently resulting in the highest permeability. Our work not only highlights the distinct mass transport properties under extreme confinement but also demonstrates the potential of dialing confinement dimension and chemistry for greener REEs separation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mingzhan Wang
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Qinsi Xiong
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Maoyu Wang
- X-Ray Science Division, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
| | - Nicholas H. C. Lewis
- Department of Chemistry, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, and James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Dongchen Ying
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Gangbin Yan
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Eli Hoenig
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Yu Han
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - One-Sun Lee
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Guiming Peng
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Hua Zhou
- X-Ray Science Division, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
| | - George C. Schatz
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Chong Liu
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Rinaldi S, Moroni E, Rozza R, Magistrato A. Frontiers and Challenges of Computing ncRNAs Biogenesis, Function and Modulation. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:993-1018. [PMID: 38287883 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c01239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2024]
Abstract
Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), generated from nonprotein coding DNA sequences, constitute 98-99% of the human genome. Non-coding RNAs encompass diverse functional classes, including microRNAs, small interfering RNAs, PIWI-interacting RNAs, small nuclear RNAs, small nucleolar RNAs, and long non-coding RNAs. With critical involvement in gene expression and regulation across various biological and physiopathological contexts, such as neuronal disorders, immune responses, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, non-coding RNAs are emerging as disease biomarkers and therapeutic targets. In this review, after providing an overview of non-coding RNAs' role in cell homeostasis, we illustrate the potential and the challenges of state-of-the-art computational methods exploited to study non-coding RNAs biogenesis, function, and modulation. This can be done by directly targeting them with small molecules or by altering their expression by targeting the cellular engines underlying their biosynthesis. Drawing from applications, also taken from our work, we showcase the significance and role of computer simulations in uncovering fundamental facets of ncRNA mechanisms and modulation. This information may set the basis to advance gene modulation tools and therapeutic strategies to address unmet medical needs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Rinaldi
- National Research Council of Italy (CNR) - Institute of Chemistry of OrganoMetallic Compounds (ICCOM), c/o Area di Ricerca CNR di Firenze Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Moroni
- National Research Council of Italy (CNR) - Institute of Chemical Sciences and Technologies (SCITEC), via Mario Bianco 9, 20131 Milano, Italy
| | - Riccardo Rozza
- National Research Council of Italy (CNR) - Institute of Material Foundry (IOM) c/o International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Via Bonomea, 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
| | - Alessandra Magistrato
- National Research Council of Italy (CNR) - Institute of Material Foundry (IOM) c/o International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Via Bonomea, 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Akhter S, Tang Z, Wang J, Haboro M, Holmstrom ED, Wang J, Miao Y. Mechanism of Ligand Binding to Theophylline RNA Aptamer. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:1017-1029. [PMID: 38226603 PMCID: PMC11058067 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2024]
Abstract
Studying RNA-ligand interactions and quantifying their binding thermodynamics and kinetics are of particular relevance in the field of drug discovery. Here, we combined biochemical binding assays and accelerated molecular simulations to investigate ligand binding and dissociation in RNA using the theophylline-binding RNA as a model system. All-atom simulations using a Ligand Gaussian accelerated Molecular Dynamics method (LiGaMD) have captured repetitive binding and dissociation of theophylline and caffeine to RNA. Theophylline's binding free energy and kinetic rate constants align with our experimental data, while caffeine's binding affinity is over 10,000 times weaker, and its kinetics could not be determined. LiGaMD simulations allowed us to identify distinct low-energy conformations and multiple ligand binding pathways to RNA. Simulations revealed a "conformational selection" mechanism for ligand binding to the flexible RNA aptamer, which provides important mechanistic insights into ligand binding to the theophylline-binding model. Our findings suggest that compound docking using a structural ensemble of representative RNA conformations would be necessary for structure-based drug design of flexible RNA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sana Akhter
- Computational Biology Program and Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047, United States
| | - Zhichao Tang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047, United States
| | - Jinan Wang
- Computational Biology Program and Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047, United States
| | - Mercy Haboro
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047, United States
| | - Erik D Holmstrom
- Department of Molecular Biosciences and Department of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, United States
| | - Jingxin Wang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047, United States
| | - Yinglong Miao
- Computational Biology Program and Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047, United States
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Landry L, Li P. Development of a Fluctuating Charge Model for Zinc-Containing Metalloproteins. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:812-824. [PMID: 38198652 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Metalloproteins widely exist in biology and play important roles in various processes. To accurately simulate metalloprotein systems, modeling polarization and charge transfer effects is vital. The fluctuating charge (FQ) model can efficiently generate atomic charges and simulate the charge transfer effect; it has been developed for a wide range of applications, but few models have been specifically tailored for metalloproteins. In this study, we present a fluctuating charge model specifically for zinc-containing metalloproteins based on the extended charge equilibration (EQeq) scheme. Our model was parametrized to reproduce CM5 charges instead of RESP/CHELPG charges because the former is less dependent on the conformation or basis set, does not suffer from unphysical charges for buried atoms, and is still being able to well reproduce the molecular dipoles. During our study, we found that adding the Pauling-bond-order-like term (referred to as the "+C term" in a previous study) between the zinc ion and ligating atoms significantly improves the model's performance. Although our model was trained for four-coordinated zinc sites only, our results indicated it can well describe the atomic charges in diverse zinc sites. Morever, our model was used to generate partial charges for the metal sites in three different zinc-containing metalloproteins (with four-, five-, and six-coordinated metal sites, respectively). These charges exhibited performance comparable to that of the RESP charges in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Additional tests indicated our model could also well reproduce the CM5 charges when geometric changes were involved. Those results indicate that our model can efficiently calculate the atomic charges for metal sites and well simulate the charge transfer effect, which marks an important step toward developing versatile polarizable force fields for metalloproteins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Luke Landry
- Department of Chemistry, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60660, United States
| | - Pengfei Li
- Department of Chemistry, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60660, United States
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Jafari M, Li Z, Song LF, Sagresti L, Brancato G, Merz KM. Thermodynamics of Metal-Acetate Interactions. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:684-697. [PMID: 38226860 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c06567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2024]
Abstract
Metal ions play crucial roles in protein- and ligand-mediated interactions. They not only act as catalysts to facilitate biological processes but are also important as protein structural elements. Accurately predicting metal ion interactions in computational studies has always been a challenge, and various methods have been suggested to improve these interactions. One such method is the 12-6-4 Lennard-Jones (LJ)-type nonbonded model. Using this model, it has been possible to successfully reproduce the experimental properties of metal ions in aqueous solution. The model includes induced dipole interactions typically ignored in the standard 12-6 LJ nonbonded model. In this we expand the applicability of this model to metal ion-carboxylate interactions. Using 12-6-4 parameters that reproduce the solvation free energies of the metal ions leads to an overestimation of metal ion-acetate interactions, thus, prompting us to fine-tune the model to specifically handle the latter. We also show that the standard 12-6 LJ model significantly falls short in reproducing the experimental binding free energy between acetate and 11 metal ions (Ni(II), Mg(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Co(II), Cu(I), Fe(II), Mn(II), Cd(II), Ca(II), and Ag(I)). In this study, we describe optimized C4 parameters for the 12-6-4 LJ nonbonded model to be used with three widely employed water models (Transferable Intermolecular Potential with 3 Points (TIP3P), Simple Point Charge Extended (SPC/E), and Optimal Point Charge (OPC) water models). These parameters can accurately match the experimental binding free energy between 11 metal ions and acetate. These parameters can be applied to the study of metalloproteins and transition metal ion channels and transporters, as acetate serves as a representative of the negatively charged amino acid side chains from aspartate and glutamate.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Majid Jafari
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Zhen Li
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Lin Frank Song
- Biochemical and Biophysical Systems Group, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, United States
| | - Luca Sagresti
- Scuola Normale Superiore and CSGI, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) sezione di Pisa, Largo Bruno Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Brancato
- Scuola Normale Superiore and CSGI, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) sezione di Pisa, Largo Bruno Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy
| | - Kenneth M Merz
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Bekker GJ, Fukunishi Y, Higo J, Kamiya N. Binding Mechanism of Riboswitch to Natural Ligand Elucidated by McMD-Based Dynamic Docking Simulations. ACS OMEGA 2024; 9:3412-3422. [PMID: 38284074 PMCID: PMC10809319 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c06826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 12/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
Flavin mononucleotide riboswitches are common among many pathogenic bacteria and are therefore considered to be an attractive target for antibiotics development. The riboswitch binds riboflavin (RBF, also known as vitamin B2), and although an experimental structure of their complex has been solved with the ligand bound deep inside the RNA molecule in a seemingly unreachable state, the binding mechanism between these molecules is not yet known. We have therefore used our Multicanonical Molecular Dynamics (McMD)-based dynamic docking protocol to analyze their binding mechanism by simulating the binding process between the riboswitch aptamer domain and the RBF, starting from the apo state of the riboswitch. Here, the refinement stage was crucial to identify the native binding configuration, as several other binding configurations were also found by McMD-based docking simulations. RBF initially binds the interface between P4 and P6 including U61 and G62, which forms a gateway where the ligand lingers until this gateway opens sufficiently to allow the ligand to pass through and slip into the hidden binding site including A48, A49, and A85.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gert-Jan Bekker
- Institute
for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yoshifumi Fukunishi
- Cellular
and Molecular Biotechnology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
(AIST), 2-3-26, Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0064, Japan
| | - Junichi Higo
- Graduate
School of Information Science, University
of Hyogo, 7-1-28 minatojima
Minami-machi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan
| | - Narutoshi Kamiya
- Graduate
School of Information Science, University
of Hyogo, 7-1-28 minatojima
Minami-machi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Duvail M, Moreno Martinez D, Žiberna L, Guillam E, Dufrêche JF, Guilbaud P. Modeling Lanthanide Ions in Solution: A Versatile Force Field in Aqueous and Organic Solvents. J Chem Theory Comput 2024. [PMID: 38221754 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c01162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
In this paper, we propose a new nonpolarizable force field for describing the Ln3+ (Ln = lanthanide) series based on a 12-6-4 Lennard-Jones potential. The development of the force field was performed in pure water by adjusting both the ion-oxygen distance and the hydration free energy. This force field accurately reproduces the Ln3+ hydration properties through the series, especially the coordination number that is hardly accessible using a nonpolarizable force field. Then, the validity and the transferability of the current force field were evaluated for two different systems containing Ln3+ in various solvents, namely, 0.1 mol L-1 La(NO3)3 salts in methanol and Eu(NO3)3 salts in solvent organic phases composed of DMDOHEMA molecules in n-heptane. The good agreement between our simulations and the data available in the literature confirms the accuracy of the force field for describing the lanthanide cations in both aqueous and nonaqueous media.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Magali Duvail
- ICSM, University of Montpellier, CEA, CNRS, ENSCM, 30207 Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France
| | - Diego Moreno Martinez
- CEA, DES, ISEC, DMRC, LILA, University of Montpellier, Marcoule, 30207 Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France
| | - Lara Žiberna
- ICSM, University of Montpellier, CEA, CNRS, ENSCM, 30207 Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France
| | - Erwann Guillam
- ICSM, University of Montpellier, CEA, CNRS, ENSCM, 30207 Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France
| | | | - Philippe Guilbaud
- CEA, DES, ISEC, DMRC, University of Montpellier, Marcoule, 30207 Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Ormazábal A, Palma J, Pierdominici-Sottile G. Dynamics and Function of sRNA/mRNAs Under the Scrutiny of Computational Simulation Methods. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2741:207-238. [PMID: 38217656 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3565-0_12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2024]
Abstract
Molecular dynamics simulations have proved extremely useful in investigating the functioning of proteins with atomic-scale resolution. Many applications to the study of RNA also exist, and their number increases by the day. However, implementing MD simulations for RNA molecules in solution faces challenges that the MD practitioner must be aware of for the appropriate use of this tool. In this chapter, we present the fundamentals of MD simulations, in general, and the peculiarities of RNA simulations, in particular. We discuss the strengths and limitations of the technique and provide examples of its application to elucidate small RNA's performance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Agustín Ormazábal
- Departmento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Bernal, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, CONICET, Godoy Cruz, CABA, Argentina
| | - Juliana Palma
- Departmento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Bernal, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, CONICET, Godoy Cruz, CABA, Argentina
| | - Gustavo Pierdominici-Sottile
- Departmento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Bernal, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, CONICET, Godoy Cruz, CABA, Argentina.
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Larson GW, Windsor PK, Smithwick E, Shi K, Aihara H, Rama Damodaran A, Bhagi-Damodaran A. Understanding ATP Binding to DosS Catalytic Domain with a Short ATP-Lid. Biochemistry 2023; 62:3283-3292. [PMID: 37905955 PMCID: PMC11152246 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.3c00306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
DosS is a heme-containing histidine kinase that triggers dormancy transformation inMycobacterium tuberculosis. Sequence comparison of the catalytic ATP-binding (CA) domain of DosS to other well-studied histidine kinases reveals a short ATP-lid. This feature has been thought to block binding of ATP to DosS's CA domain in the absence of interactions with DosS's dimerization and histidine phospho-transfer (DHp) domain. Here, we use a combination of computational modeling, structural biology, and biophysical studies to re-examine ATP-binding modalities in DosS. We show that the closed-lid conformation observed in crystal structures of DosS CA is caused by the presence of Zn2+ in the ATP binding pocket that coordinates with Glu537 on the ATP-lid. Furthermore, circular dichroism studies and comparisons of DosS CA's crystal structure with its AlphaFold model and homologous DesK reveal that residues 503-507 that appear as a random coil in the Zn2+-coordinated crystal structure are in fact part of the N-box α helix needed for efficient ATP binding. Such random-coil transformation of an N-box α helix turn and the closed-lid conformation are both artifacts arising from large millimolar Zn2+ concentrations used in DosS CA crystallization buffers. In contrast, in the absence of Zn2+, the short ATP-lid of DosS CA has significant conformational flexibility and can effectively bind AMP-PNP (Kd = 53 ± 13 μM), a non-hydrolyzable ATP analog. Furthermore, the nucleotide affinity remains unchanged when CA is conjugated to the DHp domain (Kd = 51 ± 6 μM). In all, our findings reveal that the short ATP-lid of DosS CA does not hinder ATP binding and provide insights that extend to 2988 homologous bacterial proteins containing such ATP-lids.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Grant W Larson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Peter K Windsor
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Elizabeth Smithwick
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Ke Shi
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Hideki Aihara
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Anoop Rama Damodaran
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Krupa P, La Penna G, Li MS. Amyloid- β Tetramers and Divalent Cations at the Membrane/Water Interface: Simple Models Support a Functional Role. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:12698. [PMID: 37628878 PMCID: PMC10454299 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241612698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Charge polarization at the membrane interface is a fundamental process in biology. Despite the lower concentration compared to the abundant monovalent ions, the relative abundance of divalent cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Zn2+, Fe2+, Cu2+) in particular spaces, such as the neuron synapse, raised many questions on the possible effects of free multivalent ions and of the required protection of membranes by the eventual defects caused by the free forms of the cations. In this work, we first applied a recent realistic model of divalent cations to a well-investigated model of a polar lipid bilayer, di-myristoyl phosphatidyl choline (DMPC). The full atomistic model allows a fairly good description of changes in the hydration of charged and polar groups upon the association of cations to lipid atoms. The lipid-bound configurations were analyzed in detail. In parallel, amyloid-β 1-42 (Aβ42) peptides assembled into tetramers were modeled at the surface of the same bilayer. Two of the protein tetramers' models were loaded with four Cu2+ ions, the latter bound as in DMPC-free Aβ42 oligomers. The two Cu-bound models differ in the binding topology: one with each Cu ion binding each of the monomers in the tetramer; one with pairs of Cu ions linking two monomers into dimers, forming tetramers as dimers of dimers. The models here described provide hints on the possible role of Cu ions in synaptic plasticity and of Aβ42 oligomers in storing the same ions away from lipids. The release of structurally disordered peptides in the synapse can be a mechanism to recover ion homeostasis and lipid membranes from changes in the divalent cation concentration.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pawel Krupa
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland; (P.K.); (M.S.L.)
| | - Giovanni La Penna
- Institute of Chemistry of Organometallic Compounds, National Research Council, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
- Section of Roma Tor Vergata, National Institute of Nuclear Physics, 00133 Roma, Italy
| | - Mai Suan Li
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland; (P.K.); (M.S.L.)
- Institute for Computational Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Mori T, Yoshida N. Tuning the ATP-ATP and ATP-disordered protein interactions in high ATP concentration by altering water models. J Chem Phys 2023; 159:035102. [PMID: 37458354 DOI: 10.1063/5.0158046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-protein interactions have been of great interest since the recent experimental finding of ATP's role as a hydrotrope. The interaction between ATP and disordered proteins is fundamental to the dissolution of protein aggregates and the regulation of liquid-liquid phase separation by ATP. Molecular dynamics simulation is a powerful tool for analyzing these interactions in molecular detail but often suffers from inaccuracies in describing disordered proteins and ATPs in high concentrations. Recently, several water models have been proposed to improve the description of the protein-disordered states, yet how these models work with ATP has not been explored. To this end, here, we study how water models affect ATP and alter the ATP-ATP and ATP-protein interactions for the intrinsically disordered protein, α-Synuclein. Three water models, TIP4P-D, OPC, and TIP3P, are compared, while the protein force field is fixed to ff99SBildn. The results show that ATP over-aggregates into a single cluster in TIP3P water, but monomers and smaller clusters are found in TIP4P-D and OPC waters. ATP-protein interaction is also over-stabilized in TIP3P, whereas repeated binding/unbinding of ATP to α-Synuclein is observed in OPC and TIP4P-D waters, which is in line with the recent nuclear magnetic resonance experiment. The adenine ring-mediated interaction is found to play a major role in ATP-ATP and ATP-protein contacts. Interestingly, changing Mg2+ into Na+ strengthened the electrostatic interaction and promoted ATP oligomerization and ATP-α-Synuclein binding. Overall, this study shows that changing the water model can be an effective approach to improve the properties of ATP in high concentration.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Toshifumi Mori
- Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering, Kyushu University, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan
- Department of Interdisciplinary Engineering Sciences, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu University, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan
| | - Norio Yoshida
- Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Scrima S, Tiberti M, Ryde U, Lambrughi M, Papaleo E. Comparison of force fields to study the zinc-finger containing protein NPL4, a target for disulfiram in cancer therapy. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA. PROTEINS AND PROTEOMICS 2023; 1871:140921. [PMID: 37230374 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbapap.2023.140921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are a powerful approach to studying the structure and dynamics of proteins related to health and disease. Advances in the MD field allow modeling proteins with high accuracy. However, modeling metal ions and their interactions with proteins is still challenging. NPL4 is a zinc-binding protein and works as a cofactor for p97 to regulate protein homeostasis. NPL4 is of biomedical importance and has been proposed as the target of disulfiram, a drug recently repurposed for cancer treatment. Experimental studies proposed that the disulfiram metabolites, bis-(diethyldithiocarbamate)‑copper and cupric ions, induce NPL4 misfolding and aggregation. However, the molecular details of their interactions with NPL4 and consequent structural effects are still elusive. Here, biomolecular simulations can help to shed light on the related structural details. To apply MD simulations to NPL4 and its interaction with copper the first important step is identifying a suitable force field to describe the protein in its zinc-bound states. We examined different sets of non-bonded parameters because we want to study the misfolding mechanism and cannot rule out that the zinc may detach from the protein during the process and copper replaces it. We investigated the force-field ability to model the coordination geometry of the metal ions by comparing the results from MD simulations with optimized geometries from quantum mechanics (QM) calculations using model systems of NPL4. Furthermore, we investigated the performance of a force field including bonded parameters to treat copper ions in NPL4 that we obtained based on QM calculations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Simone Scrima
- Cancer Structural Biology, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Cancer Systems Biology, Section for Bioinformatics, Department of Health and Technology, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Matteo Tiberti
- Cancer Structural Biology, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Ulf Ryde
- Division of Theoretical Chemistry, Lund University, Chemical Centre, P. O. Box 124, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
| | - Matteo Lambrughi
- Cancer Structural Biology, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Elena Papaleo
- Cancer Structural Biology, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Cancer Systems Biology, Section for Bioinformatics, Department of Health and Technology, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark.
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Bowers GM, Loganathan N, Loring JS, Schaef HT, Yazaydin AO. Chemistry and Dynamics of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide and Methane in the Slit Pores of Layered Silicates. Acc Chem Res 2023. [PMID: 37339149 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.3c00188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/22/2023]
Abstract
ConspectusIn the mid 2010s, high-pressure diffraction and spectroscopic tools opened a window into the molecular-scale behavior of fluids under the conditions of many CO2 sequestration and shale/tight gas reservoirs, conditions where CO2 and CH4 are present as variably wet supercritical fluids. Integrating high-pressure spectroscopy and diffraction with molecular modeling has revealed much about the ways that supercritical CO2 and CH4 behave in reservoir components, particularly in the slit-shaped micro- and mesopores of layered silicates (phyllosilicates) abundant in caprocks and shales. This Account summarizes how supercritical CO2 and CH4 behave in the slit pores of swelling phyllosilicates as functions of the H2O activity, framework structural features, and charge-balancing cation properties at 90 bar and 323 K, conditions similar to a reservoir at ∼1 km depth. Slit pores containing cations with large radii, low hydration energy, and large polarizability readily interact with CO2, allowing CO2 and H2O to adsorb and coexist in these interlayer pores over a wide range of fluid humidities. In contrast, cations with small radii, high hydration energy, and low polarizability weakly interact with CO2, leading to reduced CO2 uptake and a tendency to exclude CO2 from interlayers when H2O is abundant. The reorientation dynamics of confined CO2 depends on the interlayer pore height, which is strongly influenced by the cation properties, framework properties, and fluid humidity. The silicate structural framework also influences CO2 uptake and behavior; for example, smectites with increasing F-for-OH substitution in the framework take up greater quantities of CO2. Reactions that trap CO2 in carbonate phases have been observed in thin H2O films near smectite surfaces, including a dissolution-reprecipitation mechanism when the edge surface area is large and an ion exchange-precipitation mechanism when the interlayer cation can form a highly insoluble carbonate. In contrast, supercritical CH4 does not readily associate with cations, does not react with smectites, and is only incorporated into interlayer slit mesopores when (i) the pore has a z-dimension large enough to accommodate CH4, (ii) the smectite has low charge, and (iii) the H2O activity is low. The adsorption and displacement of CH4 by CO2 and vice versa have been studied on the molecular scale in one shale, but opportunities remain to examine behavioral details in this more complicated, slit-pore inclusive system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey M Bowers
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, St. Mary's College of Maryland, 47645 College Drive, St. Mary's City, Maryland 20686, United States
| | - Narasimhan Loganathan
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, 578 South Shaw Lane, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - John S Loring
- Computational and Molecular Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 3335 Innovation Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
| | - Herbert Todd Schaef
- Computational and Molecular Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 3335 Innovation Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
| | - A Ozgur Yazaydin
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, London, U.K. WC1E 7JE
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Larson G, Windsor P, Smithwick E, Shi K, Aihara H, Damodaran AR, Bhagi-Damodaran A. Understanding ATP binding to DosS catalytic domain with a short ATP-lid. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.05.29.542785. [PMID: 37398500 PMCID: PMC10312584 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.29.542785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
DosS is a heme-sensor histidine kinase that responds to redox-active stimuli in mycobacterial environments by triggering dormancy transformation. Sequence comparison of the catalytic ATP-binding (CA) domain of DosS to other well-studied histidine kinases suggests that it possesses a rather short ATP-lid. This feature has been thought to inhibit DosS kinase activity by blocking ATP binding in the absence of interdomain interactions with the dimerization and histidine phospho-transfer (DHp) domain of full-length DosS. Here, we use a combination of computational modeling, structural biology, and biophysical studies to re-examine ATP-binding modalities in DosS's CA domain. We show that the closed lid conformation observed in protein crystal structures of DosS CA is caused by the presence of a zinc cation in the ATP binding pocket that coordinates with a glutamate residue on the ATP-lid. Furthermore, circular dichroism (CD) studies and comparisons of DosS CA crystal structure with its AlphaFold model and homologous DesK reveal that a key N-box alpha-helix turn of the ATP pocket manifests as a random coil in the zinc-coordinated protein crystal structure. We note that this closed lid conformation and the random-coil transformation of an N-box alpha-helix turn are artifacts arising from the millimolar zinc concentration used in DosS CA crystallization conditions. In contrast, in the absence of zinc, we find that the short ATP-lid of DosS CA has significant conformational flexibility and can bind ATP (Kd = 53 ± 13 μM). We conclude that DosS CA is almost always bound to ATP under physiological conditions (1-5 mM ATP, sub-nanomolar free zinc) in the bacterial environment. Our findings elucidate the conformational adaptability of the short ATP-lid, its relevance to ATP binding in DosS CA and provide insights that extends to 2988 homologous bacterial proteins containing such ATP-lids.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Grant Larson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
| | - Peter Windsor
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
| | | | - Ke Shi
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
| | - Hideki Aihara
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
20
|
Li C, Kingsbury R, Thind AS, Shyamsunder A, Fister TT, Klie RF, Persson KA, Nazar LF. Enabling selective zinc-ion intercalation by a eutectic electrolyte for practical anodeless zinc batteries. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3067. [PMID: 37244907 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38460-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Two major challenges hinder the advance of aqueous zinc metal batteries for sustainable stationary storage: (1) achieving predominant Zn-ion (de)intercalation at the oxide cathode by suppressing adventitious proton co-intercalation and dissolution, and (2) simultaneously overcoming Zn dendrite growth at the anode that triggers parasitic electrolyte reactions. Here, we reveal the competition between Zn2+ vs proton intercalation chemistry of a typical oxide cathode using ex-situ/operando techniques, and alleviate side reactions by developing a cost-effective and non-flammable hybrid eutectic electrolyte. A fully hydrated Zn2+ solvation structure facilitates fast charge transfer at the solid/electrolyte interface, enabling dendrite-free Zn plating/stripping with a remarkably high average coulombic efficiency of 99.8% at commercially relevant areal capacities of 4 mAh cm-2 and function up to 1600 h at 8 mAh cm-2. By concurrently stabilizing Zn redox at both electrodes, we achieve a new benchmark in Zn-ion battery performance of 4 mAh cm-2 anode-free cells that retain 85% capacity over 100 cycles at 25 °C. Using this eutectic-design electrolyte, Zn | |Iodine full cells are further realized with 86% capacity retention over 2500 cycles. The approach represents a new avenue for long-duration energy storage.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chang Li
- Department of Chemistry and the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Ontario, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada
- Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
| | - Ryan Kingsbury
- Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Arashdeep Singh Thind
- Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
- Department of Physics, University of Illinois - Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA
| | - Abhinandan Shyamsunder
- Department of Chemistry and the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Ontario, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada
- Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
| | - Timothy T Fister
- Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
- Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
| | - Robert F Klie
- Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
- Department of Physics, University of Illinois - Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA
| | - Kristin A Persson
- Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA.
- Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
| | - Linda F Nazar
- Department of Chemistry and the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Ontario, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.
- Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Sinha S, Pindi C, Ahsan M, Arantes PR, Palermo G. Machines on Genes through the Computational Microscope. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:1945-1964. [PMID: 36947696 PMCID: PMC10104023 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c01313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/24/2023]
Abstract
Macromolecular machines acting on genes are at the core of life's fundamental processes, including DNA replication and repair, gene transcription and regulation, chromatin packaging, RNA splicing, and genome editing. Here, we report the increasing role of computational biophysics in characterizing the mechanisms of "machines on genes", focusing on innovative applications of computational methods and their integration with structural and biophysical experiments. We showcase how state-of-the-art computational methods, including classical and ab initio molecular dynamics to enhanced sampling techniques, and coarse-grained approaches are used for understanding and exploring gene machines for real-world applications. As this review unfolds, advanced computational methods describe the biophysical function that is unseen through experimental techniques, accomplishing the power of the "computational microscope", an expression coined by Klaus Schulten to highlight the extraordinary capability of computer simulations. Pushing the frontiers of computational biophysics toward a pragmatic representation of large multimegadalton biomolecular complexes is instrumental in bridging the gap between experimentally obtained macroscopic observables and the molecular principles playing at the microscopic level. This understanding will help harness molecular machines for medical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnological purposes.
Collapse
|
22
|
Comparison of Empirical Zn2+ Models in Protein–DNA Complexes. BIOPHYSICA 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/biophysica3010014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/22/2023]
Abstract
Zinc ions are the second most abundant ions found in humans. Their role in proteins can be merely structural but also catalytic, owing to their transition metal character. Modelling their geometric–coordination versatility by empirical force fields is, thus, a challenging task. In this work, we evaluated three popular models, specifically designed to represent zinc ions with regard to their capability of preserving structural integrity. To this end, we performed molecular dynamics simulations of two zinc-containing protein–DNA complexes, which differed in their zinc coordination, i.e., four cysteines or two cysteines and two histidines. The most flexible non-bonded 12-6-4 Lennard–Jones-type model shows a preference for six-fold coordination of the Zn2+-ions in contradiction to the crystal structure. The cationic dummy atom model favours tetrahedral geometry, whereas the bonded extended zinc AMBER force field model, by construction, best preserves the initial geometry of a regular or slightly distorted tetrahedron. Our data renders the extended zinc AMBER force field the best model for structural zinc ions in a given geometry. In more complicated cases, though, more flexible models may be advantageous.
Collapse
|
23
|
Qiu M, Sun P, Han K, Pang Z, Du J, Li J, Chen J, Wang ZL, Mai W. Tailoring water structure with high-tetrahedral-entropy for antifreezing electrolytes and energy storage at -80 °C. Nat Commun 2023; 14:601. [PMID: 36737612 PMCID: PMC9898254 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36198-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
One of unsolved puzzles about water lies in how ion-water interplay affects its freezing point. Here, we report the direct link between tetrahedral entropy and the freezing behavior of water in Zn2+-based electrolytes by analyzing experimental spectra and molecular simulation results. A higher tetrahedral entropy leads to lower freezing point, and the freezing temperature is directly related to the entropy value. By tailoring the entropy of water using different anions, we develop an ultralow temperature aqueous polyaniline| |Zn battery that exhibits a high capacity (74.17 mAh g-1) at 1 A g-1 and -80 °C with ~85% capacity retention after 1200 cycles due to the high electrolyte ionic conductivity (1.12 mS cm-1). Moreover, an improved cycling life is achieved with ~100% capacity retention after 5000 cycles at -70 °C. The fabricated battery delivers appreciably enhanced performance in terms of frost resistance and stability. This work serves to provide guidance for the design of ultralow temperature aqueous batteries by precisely tuning the water structure within electrolytes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Meijia Qiu
- grid.258164.c0000 0004 1790 3548Siyuan Laboratory, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Vacuum Coating Technologies and New Energy Materials, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Vacuum Coating Technologies and New Energy Materials, Department of Physics, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 People’s Republic of China
| | - Peng Sun
- grid.258164.c0000 0004 1790 3548Siyuan Laboratory, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Vacuum Coating Technologies and New Energy Materials, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Vacuum Coating Technologies and New Energy Materials, Department of Physics, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 People’s Republic of China
| | - Kai Han
- grid.258164.c0000 0004 1790 3548Siyuan Laboratory, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Vacuum Coating Technologies and New Energy Materials, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Vacuum Coating Technologies and New Energy Materials, Department of Physics, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 People’s Republic of China ,grid.9227.e0000000119573309CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Micro-Nano Energy and Sensor, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083 People’s Republic of China
| | - Zhenjiang Pang
- Beijing Smart-Chip Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd, Beijing, 100192 People’s Republic of China
| | - Jun Du
- Beijing Smart-Chip Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd, Beijing, 100192 People’s Republic of China
| | - Jinliang Li
- grid.258164.c0000 0004 1790 3548Siyuan Laboratory, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Vacuum Coating Technologies and New Energy Materials, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Vacuum Coating Technologies and New Energy Materials, Department of Physics, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 People’s Republic of China
| | - Jian Chen
- grid.12981.330000 0001 2360 039XInstrumental Analysis and Research Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 People’s Republic of China
| | - Zhong Lin Wang
- grid.9227.e0000000119573309CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Micro-Nano Energy and Sensor, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083 People’s Republic of China ,grid.213917.f0000 0001 2097 4943School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332 USA
| | - Wenjie Mai
- grid.258164.c0000 0004 1790 3548Siyuan Laboratory, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Vacuum Coating Technologies and New Energy Materials, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Vacuum Coating Technologies and New Energy Materials, Department of Physics, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 People’s Republic of China ,grid.9227.e0000000119573309CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Micro-Nano Energy and Sensor, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083 People’s Republic of China ,grid.440736.20000 0001 0707 115XSchool of Physics, Xidian University, Xi’an, 710071 People’s Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Patra P, Gao YQ. Sequence-Specific Structural Features and Solvation Properties of Transcription Factor Binding DNA Motifs: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulation. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:9187-9206. [PMID: 36322688 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c05749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Sequence-specific recognition of transcription factor (TF) binding motifs in the target site of DNA over the vast amount of non-target DNA is of primary importance for the transcriptional regulation of gene expression by the TFs. Binding of TFs to the target site of DNA relies not only on the direct contact formation but also on the structural and conformational features of DNA. Recognition of DNA structural features or shape readout by proteins is an important factor in the context of TF-DNA interaction. Based on the atomistic molecular simulation, here we report the sequence-dependent unique structural features, solvation, and ion-binding properties of biologically relevant AT- and GC-rich human TF binding motifs in DNA. Counterion and water distribution around the motif is found to be sensitive to the motif sequence, which is accompanied with the DNA shape features. The motif sequence affects the electrostatic potential along the grooves, and cytosine methylation alters the DNA shape features. Characteristic solvation properties of TF binding motif DNA fragments infer that an ionic environment and hydration influences are essential to describe TF-DNA interactions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Piya Patra
- Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Institute of Systems and Physical Biology, Shenzhen 518107, China
| | - Yi Qin Gao
- Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Institute of Systems and Physical Biology, Shenzhen 518107, China.,Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.,Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Borišek J, Aupič J, Magistrato A. Establishing the catalytic and regulatory mechanism of
RNA
‐based machineries. WIRES COMPUTATIONAL MOLECULAR SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/wcms.1643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jure Borišek
- Theory Department National Institute of Chemistry Ljubljana Slovenia
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
26
|
Wilson RH, Chatterjee S, Smithwick ER, Dalluge JJ, Bhagi-Damodaran A. Role of Secondary Coordination Sphere Residues in Halogenation Catalysis of Non-heme Iron Enzymes. ACS Catal 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.2c00954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- R. Hunter Wilson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Sourav Chatterjee
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Elizabeth R. Smithwick
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Joseph J. Dalluge
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Khasawinah K, Alzoubi Z, Obeidat A. Free-energy differences of OPC-Water and SPC/HW-Heavy-Water Models using the Bennett Acceptance Ratio. Heliyon 2022; 8:e10000. [PMID: 35965979 PMCID: PMC9364108 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Revised: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Surface tension, vapor density of OPC-water and SPC/HW-heavy-water models have been estimated at low temperatures using the scaled model. The free-energy difference, -ΔF, of n-molecules and (n-1)-molecules plus a free probe has been calculated using the Bennett acceptance ratio with the aid of Monte-Carlo simulations. Our results show that the relation between the free-energy difference divided by kBT and the number of molecules to the power minus one-third is linear for n>6. Consequently, the surface tension can be extracted from the straight line slope, whereas the vapor density can be extracted from the intercept, which is proportional to the logarithmic ratio of liquid density to that of vapor density. By scaling the free-energy differences, for at least three different temperatures, to TCT−1, we estimated the critical temperature and hence the surface tension and the vapor density at a wide range of temperatures. The free-energy differences have been calculated at 240K, 260K, and 280K for OPC-water, and at 260K, 280K, and 300K for the SPC/HW-heavy water model.
Collapse
|
28
|
Fan K, Zhang Y, Qiu Y, Zhang H. Impacts of targeting different hydration free energy references on the development of ion potentials. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2022; 24:16244-16262. [PMID: 35758314 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp01237e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Hydration free energy (HFE) as the most important solvation parameter is often targeted in ion model development, even though the reported values differ by dozens of kcal mol-1 mainly due to the experimentally undetermined HFE of the proton ΔG°(H+). The choice of ΔG°(H+) obviously affects the hydration of single ions and the relative HFE between the ions with different (magnitude or sign) charges, and the impacts of targeted HFEs on the ion solvation and ion-ion interactions are largely unrevealed. Here we designed point charge models of K+, Mg2+, Al3+, and Cl- ions targeting a variety of HFE references and then investigated the HFE influences on the simulations of dilute and concentrated ion solutions and of the salt ion pairs in gas, liquid, and solid phases. Targeting one more property of ion-water oxygen distances (IOD) leaves the ion-water binding distance invariant, while the binding strength increases with the decreasing (more negative) HFE of ions as a result of a decrease in ΔG°(H+) for the cation and an increase in ΔG°(H+) for the anion. The increase in ΔG°(H+) leads to strengthened cation-anion interactions and thus to close ion-ion contacts, low osmotic pressures, and small activity derivatives in concentrated ion solutions as well as too stable ion pairs of the salts in different phases. The ion diffusivity and water exchange rates around the ions are simply not HFE dependent but rather more complex. Targeting both the aqueous IOD and salt crystal properties of KCl was also attempted and the comparison between different models indicates the complexity and challenge in obtaining a balanced performance between different phases using classical force fields. Our results also support that a real ΔG°(H+) value of -259.8 kcal mol-1 recommended by Hünenberger and Reif guides ion models to reproduce ion-water and ion-ion interactions reasonably at relatively low salt concentrations. Simulations of a metalloprotein show that a relatively more positive ΔG°(H+) for Mg2+ model is better for a reasonable description of the metal binding network.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kun Fan
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China.
| | - Yongguang Zhang
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China.
| | - Yejie Qiu
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China.
| | - Haiyang Zhang
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China.
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Abstract
Amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides are involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD) development. The interactions of these peptides with copper and zinc ions also seem to be crucial for this pathology. Although Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions binding by Aβ peptides has been scrupulously investigated, surprisingly, this phenomenon has not been so thoroughly elucidated for N-truncated Aβ4-x-probably the most common version of this biomolecule. This negligence also applies to mixed Cu-Zn complexes. From the structural in silico analysis presented in this work, it appears that there are two possible mixed Cu-Zn(Aβ4-x) complexes with different stoichiometries and, consequently, distinct properties. The Cu-Zn(Aβ4-x) complex with 1:1:1 stoichiometry may have a neuroprotective superoxide dismutase-like activity. On the other hand, another mixed 2:1:2 Cu-Zn(Aβ4-x) complex is perhaps a seed for toxic oligomers. Hence, this work proposes a novel research direction for our better understanding of AD development.
Collapse
|
30
|
Moreno Martinez D, Guillaumont D, Guilbaud P. Force Field Parameterization of Actinyl Molecular Cations Using the 12-6-4 Model. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 62:2432-2445. [PMID: 35537184 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c00153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
In this work, a set of 12-6-4 force fields (FFs) parameters were developed for the actinyl molecular cations, AnO2n+ (n = 1, 2), from uranium to plutonium for classical molecular dynamics (MD) for four water models: TIP3P, SPC/E, OPC3, and TIP4Pew. Such a non-bonded potential model taking into account the induced dipole between the metallic center and the surrounding molecules has shown better performances for various cations than the classic 12-6 non-bonded potentials. The parametrization method proposed elsewhere for metallic cations has been extended to these molecular cations. In contrast to the actinyl 12-6 FFs from the literature, the new models reproduce correctly both solvation and thermodynamic properties, thanks to the inclusion of the induced dipole term (C4). The transferability of such force fields was assessed by performing MD simulations of carbonato actinyl species, which are highly implicated in actinide migration or actinide extraction from seawater. A highly satisfying agreement was found when comparing the EXAFS signals computed from our MD simulation to the experimental ones. The set of FFs developed here opens new possibilities for the study of actinide chemistry.
Collapse
|
31
|
Abstract
As a fundamental property of all fluids, diffusion plays myriad roles in both science and our daily lives. Diffusive properties of many liquids including water have been extensively studied both experimentally and theoretically, while for transition metal ions, there exist significant experimental data that have not been extensively studied theoretically. Hence, high-confidence predictions for challenging systems like radioactive ions that are biohazardous cannot be reliably generated. In this work, a workflow named ISAIAH (Ion Simulation using AMBER for dIffusion Action when Hydrated) was designed to accurately simulate the diffusion coefficients of 15 monoatomic ions with charges varying from -1 to +3 in four water models. As the results indicate, good agreement with experimental values was achieved, leading us to select 239Pu4+ (for which no experimental data are available) as a candidate ion to make a theoretical prediction of its diffusion coefficient in water. Among all the force field parameter sets, the ones parametrized using an augmented 12-6-4 Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential showed lower average unsigned errors (AUE) for ions of various radii and electron configurations relative to some 12-6 LJ parameters. This observation agrees well with the fact that diffusion is affected by both the hydration free energy (HFE) and the ion-oxygen distance (IOD) between solute and solvent molecules, both of which are handled well by the 12-6-4 model.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Li
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Kenneth M Merz
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Li ZJ, Srebnik S, Rojas OJ. Competing Effects of Hydration and Cation Complexation in Single-Chain Alginate. Biomacromolecules 2022; 23:1949-1957. [PMID: 35362969 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.1c01591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Alginic acid, a naturally occurring anionic polyelectrolyte, forms strong physically cross-linked hydrogels in the presence of metal cations. The latter engage in electrostatic interactions that compete with intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds, determining the gel structure and properties of the system in aqueous media. In this study, we use all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to systematically analyze the interactions between alginic acid chains and Na+ and Ca2+ counterions. The formed alginates originate from the competition of intramolecular hydrogen bonding and water coordination around the polyelectrolyte. In contrast to the established interpretation, we show that calcium cations strongly bind to alginate by disrupting hydrogen bonds within (1 → 4)-linked β-d-mannuronate (M) residues. On the other hand, Na+ cations enhance intramolecular hydrogen bonds that stabilize a left-hand, fourfold helical chain structure in poly-M alginate, resulting in stiffer chains. Hence, the traditionally accepted flexible flat-chain model for poly-M sequence is not valid in the presence of Na+. The two cations have a distinct effect on water coordination around alginate and therefore on its solubility. While Ca+ disrupts water coordination directly around the alginate chains, mobile Na+ cations significantly disrupt the second hydration layer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zezhong John Li
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3, Canada.,Laboratory of Sustainable and Catalytic Processing, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Simcha Srebnik
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Orlando J Rojas
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3, Canada.,Bioproducts Institute, Department of Chemistry and Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia, 2385 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Grotz KK, Schwierz N. Magnesium Force Fields for OPC Water with Accurate Solvation, Ion-Binding, and Water-Exchange Properties: Successful Transfer from SPC/E. J Chem Phys 2022; 156:114501. [DOI: 10.1063/5.0087292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Magnesium plays a vital role in a large variety of biological processes. To model such processes by molecular dynamics simulations, researchers rely on accurate force field parameters for Mg2+ and water. OPC is one of the most promising water models yielding an improved description of biomolecules in water. The aim of this work is to provide force field parameters for Mg2+ that lead to accurate simulation results in combination with OPC water. Using twelve different Mg2+ parameter sets, that were previously optimized with different water models, we systematically assess the transferability to OPC based on a large variety of experimental properties. The results show that the Mg2+ parameters for SPC/E are transferable to OPC and closely reproduce the experimental solvation free energy, radius of the first hydration shell, coordination number, activity derivative, and binding affinity toward the phosphate oxygens on RNA. Two optimal parameter sets are presented: MicroMg yields water exchange in OPC on the microsecond timescale in agreement with experiments. NanoMg yields accelerated exchange on the nanosecond timescale and facilitates the direct observation of ion binding events for enhanced sampling purposes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kara K. Grotz
- Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Germany
| | - Nadine Schwierz
- Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Zeke A, Schád É, Horváth T, Abukhairan R, Szabó B, Tantos A. Deep structural insights into RNA-binding disordered protein regions. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. RNA 2022; 13:e1714. [PMID: 35098694 PMCID: PMC9539567 DOI: 10.1002/wrna.1714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2021] [Revised: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Recent efforts to identify RNA binding proteins in various organisms and cellular contexts have yielded a large collection of proteins that are capable of RNA binding in the absence of conventional RNA recognition domains. Many of the recently identified RNA interaction motifs fall into intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDRs). While the recognition mode and specificity of globular RNA binding elements have been thoroughly investigated and described, much less is known about the way IDRs can recognize their RNA partners. Our aim was to summarize the current state of structural knowledge on the RNA binding modes of disordered protein regions and to propose a classification system based on their sequential and structural properties. Through a detailed structural analysis of the complexes that contain disordered protein regions binding to RNA, we found two major binding modes that represent different recognition strategies and, most likely, functions. We compared these examples with DNA binding disordered proteins and found key differences stemming from the nucleic acids as well as similar binding strategies, implying a broader substrate acceptance by these proteins. Due to the very limited number of known structures, we integrated molecular dynamics simulations in our study, whose results support the proposed structural preferences of specific RNA‐binding IDRs. To broaden the scope of our review, we included a brief analysis of RNA‐binding small molecules and compared their structural characteristics and RNA recognition strategies to the RNA‐binding IDRs. This article is categorized under:RNA Structure and Dynamics > RNA Structure, Dynamics, and Chemistry RNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > Protein–RNA Recognition RNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > Small Molecule–RNA Interactions
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- András Zeke
- Institute of Enzymology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Éva Schád
- Institute of Enzymology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Tamás Horváth
- Institute of Enzymology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Rawan Abukhairan
- Institute of Enzymology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Beáta Szabó
- Institute of Enzymology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Agnes Tantos
- Institute of Enzymology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Grotz KK, Schwierz N. Optimized Magnesium Force Field Parameters for Biomolecular Simulations with Accurate Solvation, Ion-Binding, and Water-Exchange Properties in SPC/E, TIP3P-fb, TIP4P/2005, TIP4P-Ew, and TIP4P-D. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:526-537. [PMID: 34881568 PMCID: PMC8757469 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Magnesium is essential in many vital processes. To correctly describe Mg2+ in physiological processes by molecular dynamics simulations, accurate force fields are fundamental. Despite the importance, force fields based on the commonly used 12-6 Lennard-Jones potential showed significant shortcomings. Recently progress was made by an optimization procedure that implicitly accounts for polarizability. The resulting microMg and nanoMg force fields (J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2021, 17, 2530-2540) accurately reproduce a broad range of experimental solution properties and the binding affinity to nucleic acids in TIP3P water. Since countless simulation studies rely on available water models and ion force fields, we here extend the optimization and provide Mg2+ parameters in combination with the SPC/E, TIP3P-fb, TIP4P/2005, TIP4P-Ew, and TIP4P-D water models. For each water model, the Mg2+ force fields reproduce the solvation free energy, the distance to oxygens in the first hydration shell, the hydration number, the activity coefficient derivative in MgCl2 solutions, and the binding affinity and distance to the phosphate oxygens on nucleic acids. We present two parameter sets: MicroMg yields water exchange on the microsecond time scale and matches the experimental exchange rate. Depending on the water model, nanoMg yields accelerated water exchange in the range of 106 to 108 exchanges per second. The nanoMg parameters can be used to enhance the sampling of binding events, to obtain converged distributions of Mg2+, or to predict ion binding sites in biomolecular simulations. The parameter files are freely available at https://github.com/bio-phys/optimizedMgFFs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kara K. Grotz
- Department of Theoretical
Biophysics, Max-Planck-Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main 60438, Germany
| | - Nadine Schwierz
- Department of Theoretical
Biophysics, Max-Planck-Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main 60438, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Qiu Y, Jiang Y, Zhang Y, Zhang H. Rational Design of Nonbonded Point Charge Models for Monovalent Ions with Lennard-Jones 12-6 Potential. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:13502-13518. [PMID: 34860517 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c09103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Ions are of central importance in nature, and a variety of potential models was proposed to model ions in different phases for an in-depth exploration of ion-related systems. Here, we developed point charge models of 14 monovalent ions with the traditional 12-6 Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential for use in conjunction with 11 water models of TIP3P, OPC3, SPC/E, SPC/Eb, TIP3P-FB, a99SB-disp, TIP4P-Ew, OPC, TIP4P/2005, TIP4P-D, and TIP4P-FB. The designed models reproduced the real hydration free energy (HFE) of ions and the ion-oxygen distance (IOD) in the first hydration shell accurately and simultaneously, a performance similar to the previously reported 12-6-4 LJ-type ion models (12-6 LJ plus an attractive C4 term for cations or a repulsive one for anions). This work, along with our previous work on di-, tri-, and tetravalent metal cations (J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2021, 61, 4031-4044; J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2021, 61, 4613-4629), demonstrates the feasibility of the simple 12-6 LJ potential in ion modeling. In order for the 12-6 LJ potential to reproduce both the HFE and IOD, the LJ R parameters need to be close to Shannon's ionic radii for the highly charged cations and to the Stokes's van der Waals (vdW) radii for the monovalent ions. With an additional C4 term, the R parameters of 12-6-4 LJ ion models agree well with the Stokes's vdW radii and have a more physical meaning. It appears that the C4 term can be merged into the 12-6 LJ potential by a rational tuning of R and the LJ well depth. Simulations of the osmotic coefficients of alkali chloride solutions and the properties of gaseous and solid alkali halides indicate the necessity of further optimizing ion-ion interactions via, for instance, targeting more properties or using a more physical (polarizable) model.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yejie Qiu
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China
| | - Yang Jiang
- Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Yongguang Zhang
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China
| | - Haiyang Zhang
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Çevirim-Papaioannou N, Androniuk I, Han S, Mouheb NA, Gaboreau S, Um W, Gaona X, Altmaier M. Sorption of beryllium in cementitious systems relevant for nuclear waste disposal: Quantitative description and mechanistic understanding. CHEMOSPHERE 2021; 282:131094. [PMID: 34470157 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Revised: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Beryllium has applications in fission and fusion reactors, and it is present in specific streams of radioactive waste. Accordingly, the environmental mobility of beryllium needs to be assessed in the context of repositories for nuclear waste. Although cement is widely used in these facilities, Be(II) uptake by cementitious materials was not previously investigated and was hence assumed negligible. Sorption experiments were performed under Ar-atmosphere. Ordinary Portland cement, low pH cement, calcium silicate hydrated (C-S-H) phases and the model system TiO2 were investigated. Sorption kinetics, sorption isotherms and distribution ratios (Rd, in kg⋅L-1) were determined for these systems. Molecular dynamics were used to characterize the surface processes driving Be(II) uptake. A strong uptake (5 ≤ log Rd ≤ 7) is quantified for all investigated cementitious systems. Linear sorption isotherms are observed over three orders of magnitude in [Be(II)]aq, confirming that the uptake is controlled by sorption processes and that solubility phenomena is not relevant within the investigated conditions. The analogous behaviour observed for cement and C-S-H support that the latter are the main sink of beryllium. The two step sorption kinetics is explained by a fast surface complexation process, followed by the slow incorporation of Be(II) in C-S-H. Molecular dynamics indicate that Be(OH)3- and Be(OH)42- are sorbed to the C-S-H surface through Ca-bridges. This work provides a comprehensive quantitative and mechanistic description of Be(II) uptake by cementitious materials, whose retention properties can be now reliably assessed for a wide range of boundary conditions of relevance in nuclear waste disposal.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- N Çevirim-Papaioannou
- Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal (INE), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany.
| | - I Androniuk
- Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal (INE), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - S Han
- Division of Advanced Nuclear Engineering (DANE), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Gyeongbuk, South Korea
| | - N Ait Mouheb
- Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal (INE), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - S Gaboreau
- BRGM Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, Orleans, France
| | - W Um
- Division of Advanced Nuclear Engineering (DANE), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Gyeongbuk, South Korea
| | - X Gaona
- Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal (INE), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany.
| | - M Altmaier
- Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal (INE), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Orekhov MA. Coordination Numbers of Bivalent Ions in Organic Solvents. RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY A 2021. [DOI: 10.1134/s0036024421100204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Molecular dynamic models are created for properties of bivalent ions in organic solvents. It is shown that molecules of the considered solvents bound to ions via oxygen atoms. A theoretical model is developed that describes the ion coordination number. The coordination number in this model is determined by the ratio between the sizes of the ion and the atom organic molecule bound to it. It is shown that the coordination number depends weakly on the solvent and strongly on the type of ion. A value of 0.13 nm is obtained for the effective size of an oxygen atom bound to a bivalent ion. The constructed theoretical model agrees with the results from molecular dynamic calculations and the available experimental data.
Collapse
|
39
|
Zhang Y, Jiang Y, Qiu Y, Zhang H. Rational Design of Nonbonded Point Charge Models for Highly Charged Metal Cations with Lennard-Jones 12-6 Potential. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:4613-4629. [PMID: 34467756 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Here, we developed nonbonded point charge models using a simple Lennard-Jones (LJ) 12-6 potential for highly charged metal cations (18 trivalent and 6 tetravalent ions) for use with 11 water models of TIP3P, OPC3, SPC/E, SPC/Eb, TIP3P-FB, a99SB-disp, TIP4P-Ew, OPC, TIP4P/2005, TIP4P-D, and TIP4P-FB. The designed models simultaneously reproduce the hydration free energy (HFE) and ion-oxygen distance (IOD) in the first hydration shell with an error within 1 kcal/mol and 0.01 Å on average, respectively, and yield reasonable coordination numbers for most cations. Such performance is equivalent to the previously reported point charge models using a more complex 12-6-4 LJ-type potential, while the LJ R parameters of our models are much close to Shannon's revised effective ion radii than that of the 12-6-4 models. Our designed models overestimate the diffusion constants of several trivalent ions by 5-68%. The performance in predicting osmotic coefficients of trivalent chlorides in aqueous solution depends on the salt type. A calibration of cation-anion interacting LJ parameters reproduces the experimental osmotic coefficients of an AlCl3 solution at 0.2-3.0 mol/L. The effectiveness of our new models is further demonstrated by simulating a metalloprotein system with four force field/water combinations. This work facilitates accurate modeling of metal-containing systems by a variety of force fields and water models in aqueous solution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yongguang Zhang
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China
| | - Yang Jiang
- Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Yejie Qiu
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China
| | - Haiyang Zhang
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Kadaoluwa Pathirannahalage SP, Meftahi N, Elbourne A, Weiss ACG, McConville CF, Padua A, Winkler DA, Costa Gomes M, Greaves TL, Le TC, Besford QA, Christofferson AJ. Systematic Comparison of the Structural and Dynamic Properties of Commonly Used Water Models for Molecular Dynamics Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:4521-4536. [PMID: 34406000 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Water is a unique solvent that is ubiquitous in biology and present in a variety of solutions, mixtures, and materials settings. It therefore forms the basis for all molecular dynamics simulations of biological phenomena, as well as for many chemical, industrial, and materials investigations. Over the years, many water models have been developed, and it remains a challenge to find a single water model that accurately reproduces all experimental properties of water simultaneously. Here, we report a comprehensive comparison of structural and dynamic properties of 30 commonly used 3-point, 4-point, 5-point, and polarizable water models simulated using consistent settings and analysis methods. For the properties of density, coordination number, surface tension, dielectric constant, self-diffusion coefficient, and solvation free energy of methane, models published within the past two decades consistently show better agreement with experimental values compared to models published earlier, albeit with some notable exceptions. However, no single model reproduced all experimental values exactly, highlighting the need to carefully choose a water model for a particular study, depending on the phenomena of interest. Finally, machine learning algorithms quantified the relationship between the water model force field parameters and the resulting bulk properties, providing insight into the parameter-property relationship and illustrating the challenges of developing a water model that can accurately reproduce all properties of water simultaneously.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sachini P Kadaoluwa Pathirannahalage
- School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia.,Laboratoire de Chimie, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS, Lyon 69342, France
| | - Nastaran Meftahi
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - Aaron Elbourne
- School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - Alessia C G Weiss
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung e.V., Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - Chris F McConville
- School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia.,Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia
| | - Agilio Padua
- Laboratoire de Chimie, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS, Lyon 69342, France
| | - David A Winkler
- School of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia.,Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia.,School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2QL, U.K
| | | | - Tamar L Greaves
- School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - Tu C Le
- School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia
| | - Quinn A Besford
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung e.V., Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - Andrew J Christofferson
- School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia.,ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Zlobin A, Diankin I, Pushkarev S, Golovin A. Probing the Suitability of Different Ca 2+ Parameters for Long Simulations of Diisopropyl Fluorophosphatase. Molecules 2021; 26:5839. [PMID: 34641383 PMCID: PMC8510429 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26195839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2021] [Revised: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 09/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Organophosphate hydrolases are promising as potential biotherapeutic agents to treat poisoning with pesticides or nerve gases. However, these enzymes often need to be further engineered in order to become useful in practice. One example of such enhancement is the alteration of enantioselectivity of diisopropyl fluorophosphatase (DFPase). Molecular modeling techniques offer a unique opportunity to address this task rationally by providing a physical description of the substrate-binding process. However, DFPase is a metalloenzyme, and correct modeling of metal cations is a challenging task generally coming with a tradeoff between simulation speed and accuracy. Here, we probe several molecular mechanical parameter combinations for their ability to empower long simulations needed to achieve a quantitative description of substrate binding. We demonstrate that a combination of the Amber19sb force field with the recently developed 12-6 Ca2+ models allows us to both correctly model DFPase and obtain new insights into the DFP binding process.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Zlobin
- Faculty of Bioengineering, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia; (I.D.); (S.P.)
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia
- Sirius University of Science and Technology, 354340 Sochi, Russia
| | - Igor Diankin
- Faculty of Bioengineering, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia; (I.D.); (S.P.)
- Sirius University of Science and Technology, 354340 Sochi, Russia
| | - Sergey Pushkarev
- Faculty of Bioengineering, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia; (I.D.); (S.P.)
| | - Andrey Golovin
- Faculty of Bioengineering, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia; (I.D.); (S.P.)
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia
- Sirius University of Science and Technology, 354340 Sochi, Russia
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Zhang Y, Jiang Y, Peng J, Zhang H. Rational Design of Nonbonded Point Charge Models for Divalent Metal Cations with Lennard-Jones 12-6 Potential. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:4031-4044. [PMID: 34313132 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Exploring a metal-involved biochemical process at a molecular level often requires a reliable description of metal properties in aqueous solution by classical nonbonded models. An additional C4 term for considering ion-induced dipole interactions was previously proposed to supplement the widely used Lennard-Jones 12-6 potential (known as the 12-6-4 LJ-type model) with good accuracy. Here, we demonstrate an alternative to modeling divalent metal cations (M2+) with the traditional 12-6 LJ potential by developing nonbonded point charge models for use with 11 water models: TIP3P, SPC/E, SPC/Eb, TIP4P-Ew, TIP4P-D, and TIP4P/2005 and the more recent OPC3, TIP3P-FB, OPC, TIP4P-FB, and a99SB-disp. Our designed models simultaneously reproduce the experimental hydration free energy, ion-oxygen distance, and coordination number in the first hydration shell accurately for most of the metal cations, an accuracy equivalent to that of the complex 12-6-4 LJ-type and double exponential potential models. A systematic comparison with the existing M2+ models is presented as well in terms of effective ion radii, diffusion constants, water exchange rates, and ion-water interactions. Molecular dynamics simulations of metal substitution in Escherichia coli glyoxalase I variants show the great potential of our new models for metalloproteins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yongguang Zhang
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Yang Jiang
- Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802, Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Jiarong Peng
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Haiyang Zhang
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Li P. Bridging the 12-6-4 Model and the Fluctuating Charge Model. Front Chem 2021; 9:721960. [PMID: 34368089 PMCID: PMC8339297 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2021.721960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Metal ions play important roles in various biological systems. Molecular dynamics (MD) using classical force field has become a popular research tool to study biological systems at the atomic level. However, meaningful MD simulations require reliable models and parameters. Previously we showed that the 12-6 Lennard-Jones nonbonded model for ions could not reproduce the experimental hydration free energy (HFE) and ion-oxygen distance (IOD) values simultaneously when ion has a charge of +2 or higher. We discussed that this deficiency arises from the overlook of the ion-induced dipole interaction in the 12-6 model, and this term is proportional to 1/r4 based on theory. Hence, we developed the 12-6-4 model and showed it could solve this deficiency in a physically meaningful way. However, our previous research also found that the 12-6-4 model overestimated the coordination numbers (CNs) for some highly charged metal ions. And we attributed this artifact to that the current 12-6-4 scheme lacks a correction for the interactions among the first solvation shell water molecules. In the present study, we considered the ion-included dipole interaction by using the 12-6 model with adjusting the atomic charges of the first solvation shell water molecules. This strategy not only considers the ion-induced dipole interaction between ion and the first solvation shell water molecules but also well accounts for the increased repulsion among these water molecules compared to the bulk water molecules. We showed this strategy could well reproduce the experimental HFE and IOD values for Mg2+, Zn2+, Al3+, Fe3+, and In3+ and solve the CN overestimation issue of the 12-6-4 model for Fe3+ and In3+. Moreover, our simulation results showed good agreement with previous ab initio MD simulations. In addition, we derived the physical relationship between the C4 parameter and induced dipole moment, which agreed well with our simulation results. Finally, we discussed the implications of the present work for simulating metalloproteins. Due to the fluctuating charge model uses a similar concept to the 12-6 model with adjusting atomic charges, we believe the present study builds a bridge between the 12-6-4 model and the fluctuating charge model.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pengfei Li
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Peng J, Zhang Y, Jiang Y, Zhang H. Developing and Assessing Nonbonded Dummy Models of Magnesium Ion with Different Hydration Free Energy References. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:2981-2997. [PMID: 34080414 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
A large diversity in the targeted hydration free energies (HFEs) during model parameterization of metal ions was reported in the literature with a difference by dozens of kcal/mol. Here, we developed a series of nonbonded dummy models of the Mg2+ ion targeting different HFE references in TIP3P water, followed by assessments of the designed models in the simulations of MgCl2 solution and biological systems. Together with the comparison of existing models, we conclude that the difference in the targeted HFEs has a limited influence on the model performance, while the usability of these models differs from case to case. The feasibility of reproducing more properties of Mg2+ such as diffusion constants and water exchange rates using a nonbonded dummy model is demonstrated. Underestimated activity derivative and osmotic coefficient of MgCl2 solutions in high concentration reveal a necessity for further optimization of ion-pair interactions. The developed dummy models are applicable to metal coordination with Asp, Glu, and His residues in metalloenzymes, and the performance in predicting monodentate or bidentate binding modes of Asp/Glu residues depends on the complexity of metal centers and the choice of protein force fields. When both the binding modes coexist, the nonbonded dummy models outperform point charge models, probably in need of considering polarization of metal-binding residues by, for instance, charge calibration in classical force fields. This work is valuable for the use and further development of magnesium ion models for simulations of metal-containing systems with good accuracy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jiarong Peng
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China
| | - Yongguang Zhang
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China
| | - Yang Jiang
- Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Haiyang Zhang
- Department of Biological Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 100083 Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Li Z, Song LF, Li P, Merz KM. Parametrization of Trivalent and Tetravalent Metal Ions for the OPC3, OPC, TIP3P-FB, and TIP4P-FB Water Models. J Chem Theory Comput 2021; 17:2342-2354. [PMID: 33793233 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c01320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Commonly seen in rare-earth chemistry and materials science, highly charged metal ions play key roles in many chemical processes. Computer simulations have become an important tool for scientific research nowadays. Meaningful simulations require reliable parameters. In the present work, we parametrized 18 M(III) and 6 M(IV) metal ions for four new water models (OPC3, OPC, TIP3P-FB, TIP4P-FB) in conjunction with each of the 12-6 and 12-6-4 nonbonded models. Similar to what was observed previously, issues with the 12-6 model can be fixed by using the 12-6-4 model. Moreover, the four new water models showed comparable performance or considerable improvement over the previous water models (TIP3P, SPC/E, and TIP4PEW) in the same category (3-point or 4-point water models, respectively). Finally, we reported a study of a metalloprotein system demonstrating the capability of the 12-6-4 model to model metalloproteins. The reported parameters will facilitate accurate simulations of highly charged metal ions in aqueous solution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Li
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Lin Frank Song
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Pengfei Li
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, United States.,Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60660, United States
| | - Kenneth M Merz
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Unseeded, spontaneous nucleation of spherulitic magnesium calcite. J Colloid Interface Sci 2021; 593:359-369. [PMID: 33744544 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 02/06/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Most of the sedimentary carbonates deposited in the marine environments are composed of calcium carbonate minerals with varying amounts of incorporated Mg2+. However, understanding how interactions of impurities with carbonate and their incorporation affect sediments behavior remains a challenge. Here, a new insight is obtained by monitoring solution composition, morphology, and electrokinetic potential of carbonate particles formed in a spontaneous unseeded batch precipitation experiment using electrochemical and scanning electron microscopy methods. The solid composition and growth rate are extracted from changes in the bulk composition and fitted to chemical affinity rate law, revealing that the precipitation pathway consists of second-order dissolution and first-order precipitation. The molecular dynamics simulations show that the lattice strain induced by randomly substituting Ca2+ by Mg2+ stabilizes spherical nanoparticles and reduces their surface area and volume. Combining kinetics and thermodynamics insight, we conclude that variation in the carbonate bulk and interfacial energies, along with the solution supersaturation, lead to the dissolution-precipitation transformation pathway from Mg-rich to Mg-poor carbonate phase that preserves spherulitic morphology. Our findings are relevant for long-standing questions of how impurities influence diagenesis of carbonate sediments and spherulitic carbonate particles' origin.
Collapse
|
47
|
Sengupta A, Li Z, Song LF, Li P, Merz KM. Parameterization of Monovalent Ions for the OPC3, OPC, TIP3P-FB, and TIP4P-FB Water Models. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:869-880. [PMID: 33538599 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c01390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Monovalent ions play significant roles in various biological and material systems. Recently, four new water models (OPC3, OPC, TIP3P-FB, and TIP4P-FB), with significantly improved descriptions of condensed phase water, have been developed. The pairwise interaction between the metal ion and water necessitates the development of ion parameters specifically for these water models. Herein, we parameterized the 12-6 and the 12-6-4 nonbonded models for 12 monovalent ions with the respective four new water models. These monovalent ions contain eight cations including alkali metal ions (Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+, Cs+), transition-metal ions (Cu+ and Ag+), and Tl+ from the boron family, along with four halide anions (F-, Cl-, Br-, I-). Our parameters were designed to reproduce the target hydration free energies (the 12-6 hydration free energy (HFE) set), the ion-oxygen distances (the 12-6 ion-oxygen distance (IOD) set), or both of them (the 12-6-4 set). The 12-6-4 parameter set provides highly accurate structural features overcoming the limitations of the routinely used 12-6 nonbonded model for ions. Specifically, we note that the 12-6-4 parameter set is able to reproduce experimental hydration free energies within 1 kcal/mol and experimental ion-oxygen distances within 0.01 Å simultaneously. We further reproduced the experimentally determined activity derivatives for salt solutions, validating the ion parameters for simulations of ion pairs. The improved performance of the present water models over our previous parameter sets for the TIP3P, TIP4P, and SPC/E water models (Li, P. et al J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2015 11 1645 1657) highlights the importance of the choice of water model in conjunction with the metal ion parameter set.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Arkajyoti Sengupta
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Zhen Li
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Lin Frank Song
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Pengfei Li
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, United States.,Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60660, United States
| | - Kenneth M Merz
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| |
Collapse
|