1
|
Swint-Kruse L, Martin TA, Page BM, Wu T, Gerhart PM, Dougherty LL, Tang Q, Parente DJ, Mosier BR, Bantis LE, Fenton AW. Rheostat functional outcomes occur when substitutions are introduced at nonconserved positions that diverge with speciation. Protein Sci 2021; 30:1833-1853. [PMID: 34076313 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Revised: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
When amino acids vary during evolution, the outcome can be functionally neutral or biologically-important. We previously found that substituting a subset of nonconserved positions, "rheostat" positions, can have surprising effects on protein function. Since changes at rheostat positions can facilitate functional evolution or cause disease, more examples are needed to understand their unique biophysical characteristics. Here, we explored whether "phylogenetic" patterns of change in multiple sequence alignments (such as positions with subfamily specific conservation) predict the locations of functional rheostat positions. To that end, we experimentally tested eight phylogenetic positions in human liver pyruvate kinase (hLPYK), using 10-15 substitutions per position and biochemical assays that yielded five functional parameters. Five positions were strongly rheostatic and three were non-neutral. To test the corollary that positions with low phylogenetic scores were not rheostat positions, we combined these phylogenetic positions with previously-identified hLPYK rheostat, "toggle" (most substitution abolished function), and "neutral" (all substitutions were like wild-type) positions. Despite representing 428 variants, this set of 33 positions was poorly statistically powered. Thus, we turned to the in vivo phenotypic dataset for E. coli lactose repressor protein (LacI), which comprised 12-13 substitutions at 329 positions and could be used to identify rheostat, toggle, and neutral positions. Combined hLPYK and LacI results show that positions with strong phylogenetic patterns of change are more likely to exhibit rheostat substitution outcomes than neutral or toggle outcomes. Furthermore, phylogenetic patterns were more successful at identifying rheostat positions than were co-evolutionary or eigenvector centrality measures of evolutionary change.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liskin Swint-Kruse
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Tyler A Martin
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Braelyn M Page
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Tiffany Wu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Paige M Gerhart
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Larissa L Dougherty
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA.,Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Qingling Tang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Daniel J Parente
- Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Brian R Mosier
- Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Leonidas E Bantis
- Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Aron W Fenton
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Carlson GM, Fenton AW. What Mutagenesis Can and Cannot Reveal About Allostery. Biophys J 2017; 110:1912-23. [PMID: 27166800 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2016.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2015] [Revised: 02/24/2016] [Accepted: 03/14/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Allosteric regulation of protein function is recognized to be widespread throughout biology; however, knowledge of allosteric mechanisms, the molecular changes within a protein that couple one binding site to another, is limited. Although mutagenesis is often used to probe allosteric mechanisms, we consider herein what the outcome of a mutagenesis study truly reveals about an allosteric mechanism. Arguably, the best way to evaluate the effects of a mutation on allostery is to monitor the allosteric coupling constant (Qax), a ratio of the substrate binding constants in the absence versus presence of an allosteric effector. A range of substitutions at a given residue position in a protein can reveal when a particular substitution causes gain-of-function, which addresses a key challenge in interpreting mutation-dependent changes in the magnitude of Qax. Thus, whole-protein mutagenesis studies offer an acceptable means of identifying residues that contribute to an allosteric mechanism. With this focus on monitoring Qax, and keeping in mind the equilibrium nature of allostery, we consider alternative possibilities for what an allosteric mechanism might be. We conclude that different possible mechanisms (rotation-of-solid-domains, movement of secondary structure, side-chain repacking, changes in dynamics, etc.) will result in different findings in whole-protein mutagenesis studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gerald M Carlson
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
| | - Aron W Fenton
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Sousa FL, Parente DJ, Hessman JA, Chazelle A, Teichmann SA, Swint-Kruse L. Data on publications, structural analyses, and queries used to build and utilize the AlloRep database. Data Brief 2016; 8:948-57. [PMID: 27508249 PMCID: PMC4961497 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2016.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2016] [Revised: 06/22/2016] [Accepted: 07/04/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The AlloRep database (www.AlloRep.org) (Sousa et al., 2016) [1] compiles extensive sequence, mutagenesis, and structural information for the LacI/GalR family of transcription regulators. Sequence alignments are presented for >3000 proteins in 45 paralog subfamilies and as a subsampled alignment of the whole family. Phenotypic and biochemical data on almost 6000 mutants have been compiled from an exhaustive search of the literature; citations for these data are included herein. These data include information about oligomerization state, stability, DNA binding and allosteric regulation. Protein structural data for 65 proteins are presented as easily-accessible, residue-contact networks. Finally, this article includes example queries to enable the use of the AlloRep database. See the related article, “AlloRep: a repository of sequence, structural and mutagenesis data for the LacI/GalR transcription regulators” (Sousa et al., 2016) [1].
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Filipa L Sousa
- Institute of Molecular Evolution, Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätstrasse 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Daniel J Parente
- The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA
| | - Jacob A Hessman
- The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA
| | - Allen Chazelle
- The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA
| | - Sarah A Teichmann
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK; Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK
| | - Liskin Swint-Kruse
- The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Stetz MA, Carter MV, Wand AJ. Optimized expression and purification of biophysical quantities of Lac repressor and Lac repressor regulatory domain. Protein Expr Purif 2016; 123:75-82. [PMID: 27064119 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2016.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2016] [Revised: 04/01/2016] [Accepted: 04/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The recombinant production of Lac repressor (LacI) in Escherichia coli is complicated by its ubiquitous use as a regulatory element in commercially-available expression vectors and host strains. While LacI-regulated expression systems are often used to produce recombinant LacI, the product can be heterogeneous and unsuitable for some studies. Alternative approaches include using unregulated vectors which typically suffer from low yield or vectors with promoters induced by metabolically active sugars which can dilute isotope labels necessary for certain biophysical studies. Here, an optimized expression system and isolation protocol for producing various constructs of LacI is introduced which eliminates these complications. The expression vector is an adaptation of the pASK backbone wherein expression of the lacI gene is regulated by an anhydrotetracyline inducible tetA promoter and the host strain lacks the lacI gene. Typical yields in highly deuterated minimal medium are nearly 2-fold greater than those previously reported. Notably, the new expression system is also able to produce the isolated regulatory domain of LacI without co-expression of the full-length protein and without any defects in cell viability, eliminating the inconvenient requirement for strict monitoring of cell densities during pre-culturing. Typical yields in highly deuterated minimal medium are significantly greater than those previously reported. Characterization by solution NMR shows that LacI constructs produced using this expression system are highly homogenous and functionally active.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A Stetz
- Johnson Research Foundation and Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Marie V Carter
- Johnson Research Foundation and Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - A Joshua Wand
- Johnson Research Foundation and Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Johnson S, Lindén M, Phillips R. Sequence dependence of transcription factor-mediated DNA looping. Nucleic Acids Res 2012; 40:7728-38. [PMID: 22718983 PMCID: PMC3439888 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gks473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
DNA is subject to large deformations in a wide range of biological processes. Two key examples illustrate how such deformations influence the readout of the genetic information: the sequestering of eukaryotic genes by nucleosomes and DNA looping in transcriptional regulation in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. These kinds of regulatory problems are now becoming amenable to systematic quantitative dissection with a powerful dialogue between theory and experiment. Here, we use a single-molecule experiment in conjunction with a statistical mechanical model to test quantitative predictions for the behavior of DNA looping at short length scales and to determine how DNA sequence affects looping at these lengths. We calculate and measure how such looping depends upon four key biological parameters: the strength of the transcription factor binding sites, the concentration of the transcription factor, and the length and sequence of the DNA loop. Our studies lead to the surprising insight that sequences that are thought to be especially favorable for nucleosome formation because of high flexibility lead to no systematically detectable effect of sequence on looping, and begin to provide a picture of the distinctions between the short length scale mechanics of nucleosome formation and looping.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Johnson
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
6
|
Cash JN, Angerman EB, Kattamuri C, Nolan K, Zhao H, Sidis Y, Keutmann HT, Thompson TB. Structure of myostatin·follistatin-like 3: N-terminal domains of follistatin-type molecules exhibit alternate modes of binding. J Biol Chem 2011; 287:1043-53. [PMID: 22052913 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m111.270801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
TGF-β family ligands are involved in a variety of critical physiological processes. For instance, the TGF-β ligand myostatin is a staunch negative regulator of muscle growth and a therapeutic target for muscle-wasting disorders. Therefore, it is important to understand the molecular mechanisms of TGF-β family regulation. One form of regulation is through inhibition by extracellular antagonists such as the follistatin (Fst)-type proteins. Myostatin is tightly controlled by Fst-like 3 (Fstl3), which is the only Fst-type molecule that has been identified in the serum bound to myostatin. Here, we present the crystal structure of myostatin in complex with Fstl3. The structure reveals that the N-terminal domain (ND) of Fstl3 interacts uniquely with myostatin as compared with activin A, because it utilizes different surfaces on the ligand. This results in conformational differences in the ND of Fstl3 that alter its position in the type I receptor-binding site of the ligand. We also show that single point mutations in the ND of Fstl3 are detrimental to ligand binding, whereas corresponding mutations in Fst have little effect. Overall, we have shown that the NDs of Fst-type molecules exhibit distinctive modes of ligand binding, which may affect overall affinity of ligand·Fst-type protein complexes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer N Cash
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Microbiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
Zhan H, Camargo M, Matthews KS. Positions 94-98 of the lactose repressor N-subdomain monomer-monomer interface are critical for allosteric communication. Biochemistry 2010; 49:8636-45. [PMID: 20804152 DOI: 10.1021/bi101106x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The central region of the LacI N-subdomain monomer-monomer interface includes residues K84, V94, V95, V96, S97, and M98. The side chains of these residues line the β-strands at this interface and interact to create a network of hydrophobic, charged, and polar interactions that significantly rearranges in different functional states of LacI. Prior work showed that converting K84 to an apolar residue or converting V96 to an acidic residue impedes the allosteric response to inducer. Thus, we postulated that a disproportionate number of substitutions in this region of the monomer-monomer interface would alter the complex features of the LacI allosteric response. To explore this hypothesis, acidic, basic, polar, and apolar mutations were introduced at positions 94-98. Despite their varied locations along the β-strands that flank the interface, ∼70% of the mutations impact allosteric behavior, with the most significant effects found for charged substitutions. Of note, many of the LacI variants with minor functional impact exhibited altered stability to urea denaturation. The results confirm the critical role of amino acids 94-98 and indicate that this N-subdomain interface forms a primary pathway in LacI allosteric response.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hongli Zhan
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Rice University, MS-140, 6100 South Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
8
|
Abstract
Lactose repressor protein (LacI) controls transcription of the genes involved in lactose metabolism in bacteria. Essential to optimal LacI-mediated regulation is its ability to bind simultaneously to two operators, forming a loop on the intervening DNA. Recently, several lines of evidence (both theoretical and experimental) have suggested various possible loop structures associated with different DNA binding topologies and LacI tetramer structural conformations (adopted by flexing about the C-terminal tetramerization domain). We address, specifically, the role of protein opening in loop formation by employing the single-molecule tethered particle motion method on LacI protein mutants chemically cross-linked at different positions along the cleft between the two dimers. Measurements on the wild-type and uncross-linked LacI mutants led to the observation of two distinct levels of short tether length, associated with two different DNA looping structures. Restricting conformational flexibility of the protein by chemical cross-linking induces pronounced effects. Crosslinking the dimers at the level of the N-terminal DNA binding head (E36C) completely suppresses looping, whereas cross-linking near the C-terminal tetramerization domain (Q231C) results in changes of looping geometry detected by the measured tether length distributions. These observations lead to the conclusion that tetramer opening plays a definite role in at least a subset of LacI/DNA loop conformations.
Collapse
|
9
|
Swint-Kruse L, Matthews KS. Allostery in the LacI/GalR family: variations on a theme. Curr Opin Microbiol 2009; 12:129-37. [PMID: 19269243 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2009.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 108] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2008] [Revised: 01/22/2009] [Accepted: 01/26/2009] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The lactose repressor protein (LacI) was among the very first genetic regulatory proteins discovered, and more than 1000 members of the bacterial LacI/GalR family are now identified. LacI has been the prototype for understanding how transcription is controlled using small metabolites to modulate protein association with specific DNA sites. This understanding has been greatly expanded by the study of other LacI/GalR homologues. A general picture emerges in which the conserved fold provides a scaffold for multiple types of interactions - including oligomerization, small molecule binding, and protein-protein binding - that in turn influence target DNA binding and thereby regulate mRNA production. Although many different functions have evolved from this basic scaffold, each homologue retains functional flexibility: For the same protein, different small molecules can have disparate impact on DNA binding and hence transcriptional outcome. In turn, binding to alternative DNA sequences may impact the degree of allosteric response. Thus, this family exhibits a symphony of variations by which transcriptional control is achieved.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liskin Swint-Kruse
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, 66160, United States.
| | | |
Collapse
|