Protein beta-sheet nucleation is driven by local modular formation

Protein music of enhanced musicality by music style guided exploration of diverse amino acid properties

Inspired by the traceable analogies between protein sequences and music notes, protein music has been composed from amino acid sequences for popularizing science and sourcing melodies. Despite the continuous development of protein-to-music algorithms, the musicality of protein music lags far behind human music. Musicality may be enhanced by fine-tuned protein-to-music mapping to the features of a specific music style. We analyzed the features of a music style (Fantasy-Impromptu style), and used the quantized musical features to guide broad exploration of diverse amino acid properties (104 properties, sequence patterns and variations) for developing a novel protein-to-music algorithm of enhanced musicality. This algorithm was applied to 18 proteins of various biological functions. The derived music pieces consistently exhibited enhanced musicality with respect to existing protein music. Music style guided exploration of diverse amino acid properties enable protein music composition of enhanced musicality, which may be further developed and applied to a wider variety of music styles.

Comprehensive Structural and Thermodynamic Analysis of Prefibrillar WT α-Synuclein and Its G51D, E46K, and A53T Mutants by a Combination of Small-Angle X-ray Scattering and Variational Bayesian Weighting

The in solution synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering SAXS technique has been used to investigate an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) related to Parkinson's disease, the α-synuclein (α-syn), in prefibrillar diluted conditions. SAXS experiments have been performed as a function of temperature and concentration on the wild type (WT) and on the three pathogenic mutants G51D, E46K, and A53T. To identify the conformers that populate WT α-syn and the pathogenic mutants in prefibrillar conditions, scattering data have been analyzed by a new variational bayesian weighting method (VBWSAS) based on an ensemble of conformers, which includes unfolded monomers, trimers, and tetramers, both in helical-rich and strand-rich forms. The developed VBWSAS method uses a thermodynamic scheme to account for temperature and concentration effects and considers long-range protein-protein interactions in the framework of the random phase approximation. The global analysis of the whole set of data indicates that WT α-syn is mostly present as unfolded monomers and trimers (helical-rich trimers at low T and strand-rich trimers at high T), but not tetramers, as previously derived by several studies. On the contrary, different conformer combinations characterize mutants. In the α-syn G51D mutant, the most abundant aggregates at all the temperatures are strand-rich tetramers. Strand-rich tetramers are also the predominant forms in the A53T mutant, but their weight decreases with temperature. Only monomeric conformers, with a preference for the ones with the smallest sizes, are present in the E46K mutant. The derived conformational behavior then suggests a different availability of species prone to aggregate, depending on mutation, temperature, and concentration and accounting for the different neurotoxicity of α-syn variants. Indeed, this approach may be of pivotal importance to describe conformational and aggregational properties of other IDPs.

The Urfold: Structural similarity just above the superfold level?

We suspect that there is a level of granularity of protein structure intermediate between the classical levels of "architecture" and "topology," as reflected in such phenomena as extensive three-dimensional structural similarity above the level of (super)folds. Here, we examine this notion of architectural identity despite topological variability, starting with a concept that we call the "Urfold." We believe that this model could offer a new conceptual approach for protein structural analysis and classification: indeed, the Urfold concept may help reconcile various phenomena that have been frequently recognized or debated for years, such as the precise meaning of "significant" structural overlap and the degree of continuity of fold space. More broadly, the role of structural similarity in sequence↔structure↔function evolution has been studied via many models over the years; by addressing a conceptual gap that we believe exists between the architecture and topology levels of structural classification schemes, the Urfold eventually may help synthesize these models into a generalized, consistent framework. Here, we begin by qualitatively introducing the concept.

High-resolution structural characterization of Noxa, an intrinsically disordered protein, by microsecond molecular dynamics simulations

High-resolution characterization of the structure and dynamics of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) remains a challenging task. Consequently, a detailed understanding of the structural and functional features of IDPs remains limited, as very few full-length disordered proteins have been structurally characterized. We have performed microsecond-long molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of Noxa, the smallest member of the large Bcl-2 family of apoptosis regulating proteins, to characterize in atomic-level detail the structural features of a disordered protein. A 2.5 μs MD simulation starting from an unfolded state of the protein revealed the formation of a central antiparallel β-sheet structure flanked by two disordered segments at the N- and C-terminal ends. This topology is in reasonable agreement with protein disorder predictions and available experimental data. We show that this fold plays an essential role in the intracellular function and regulation of Noxa. We demonstrate that unbiased MD simulations in combination with a modern force field reveal structural and functional features of disordered proteins at atomic-level resolution.

Amino acid/water interactions study: a new amino acid scale

Partition ratios of 8 free l-amino acids (Gln, Glu, His, Lys, Met, Ser, Thr, and Tyr) were measured in 10 different polymer/polymer aqueous two-phase systems containing 0.15 M NaCl in 0.01 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.4. The solute-specific coefficients representing the solute dipole/dipole, hydrogen-bonding and electrostatic interactions with the aqueous environment of the amino acids were determined by multiple linear regression analysis using a modified linear solvation energy relationship. The solute-specific coefficients determined in this study together with the solute-specific coefficients reported previously for amino acids with non-polar side-chains where used in a Quantitative Structure/Property Relationship analysis. It is shown that linear combinations of these solute-specific coefficients are correlated well with various physicochemical, structural, and biological properties of amino acids.

Microsecond folding experiments and simulations: a match is made

For the past two decades, protein folding experiments have been speeding up from the second or millisecond time scale to the microsecond time scale, and full-atom simulations have been extended from the nanosecond to the microsecond and even millisecond time scale. Where the two meet, it is now possible to compare results directly, allowing force fields to be validated and refined, and allowing experimental data to be interpreted in atomistic detail. In this perspective we compare recent experiments and simulations on the microsecond time scale, pointing out the progress that has been made in determining native structures from physics-based simulations, refining experiments and simulations to provide more quantitative underlying mechanisms, and tackling the problems of multiple reaction coordinates, downhill folding, and complex underlying structure of unfolded or misfolded states.

Statistical Analysis of Terminal Extensions of Protein β-Strand Pairs

The long-range interactions, required to the accurate predictions of tertiary structures of β-sheet-containing proteins, are still difficult to simulate. To remedy this problem and to facilitate β-sheet structure predictions, many efforts have been made by computational methods. However, known efforts on β-sheets mainly focus on interresidue contacts or amino acid partners. In this study, to go one step further, we studied β-sheets on the strand level, in which a statistical analysis was made on the terminal extensions of paired β-strands. In most cases, the two paired β-strands have different lengths, and terminal extensions exist. The terminal extensions are the extended part of the paired strands besides the common paired part. However, we found that the best pairing required a terminal alignment, and β-strands tend to pair to make bigger common parts. As a result, 96.97%  of β-strand pairs have a ratio of 25% of the paired common part to the whole length. Also 94.26% and 95.98%  of β-strand pairs have a ratio of 40% of the paired common part to the length of the two β-strands, respectively. Interstrand register predictions by searching interacting β-strands from several alternative offsets should comply with this rule to reduce the computational searching space to improve the performances of algorithms.

A hierarchical order within protein structures underlies large separations between strands in β-sheets

Protein β-sheets often involve nonlocal interactions between parts of the polypeptide chain that are separated by hundreds of residues, raising the question of how these nonlocal contacts form. A recent study of the smallest β-sheets found that their formation was not driven by signals hidden in the primary sequence. Instead, the strands in these sheets were either local in sequence, or, when separated by large sequential distances, the intervening residues were found to fold into compact modules that anchored distant parts of the chain in close spatial proximity. Here, we examine larger β-sheets to investigate the extensibility of this principle. From an analysis of the β-sheets in a nonredundant protein dataset, we find that a highly ordered hierarchical relationship exists in the intervening structure between nonlocal β-strands. This observation is almost universal: virtually all β-sheets, no matter their complexity, appear to adopt an antiparallel model to manage the nonlocal aspects of their assembly, one where the chain, having left the vicinity of an unfinished β-sheet, retraces its steps via the same route to complete the initial sheet. Exceptions typically involve unstructured regions at chain termini. Moreover, an analysis of the residues involved in nonlocal crossstrand interactions did not produce any evidence of a signal hidden in the sequence that might direct long-range interactions. These results build on those reported for the smallest sheets, suggesting that sheet formation is either local in sequence or local in space following prior folding events that anchor disparate parts of the chain in close proximity.

New insights regarding protein folding as learned from beta-sheets

The folding of denatured proteins into their native conformations is called Anfinsen's dogma, and is the rationale for predicting protein structures based on primary sequences. Through the last 40 years of study, all available algorithms which either predict 3D or 2D protein structures, or predict the rate of protein folding based on the amino acid sequence alone, are limited in accuracy (80 %). This fact has led some researchers to look for the lost information, from mRNA to protein sequences, and it encourages us to rethink the rationale of Anfinsen's dogma. In this study, we focus on the relationship between the strand and its partners. We find two rules based on a non-redundant dataset taken from the PDB database. We refer to these two rules as the "first coming first pairing" rule and the "loveless" rule. The first coming first pairing rule indicates that a given strand prefers to pair with the next strand, if the connected region is flexible enough. The loveless rule means that the affinities between a given strand and another strand are comparable to the affinity between the given strand and its partner. Of course, the affinities between the given strand and a helix/coil peptide are significantly less than the affinity between the given strand and its partner. These two rules suggest that in protein folding, we have folding taking place during translation, and suggest also that a denatured protein is not the same as its primary sequence. Rechecking the original Anfinsen experiments, we find that the method used to denature protein in the experiment simply breaks the disulfide bonds, while the helices and sheets remain intact. In other words, denatured proteins still retain all helices and beta sheets, while the primary sequence does not. Although further verification via biological experiments is needed, our results as shown in this study may reveal a new insight for studying protein folding.

Studies on the rules of β-strand alignment in a protein β-sheet structure

To further disclose the underlying mechanisms of protein β-sheet formation, studies were made on the rules of β-strands alignment forming β-sheet structure using statistical and machine learning approaches. Firstly, statistical analysis was performed on the sum of β-strands between each β-strand pairs in protein sequences. The results showed a propensity of near-neighbor pairing (or called "first come first pair") in the β-strand pairs. Secondly, based on the same dataset, the pairwise cross-combinations of real β-strand pairs and four pseudo-β-strand contained pairs were classified by support vector machine (SVM). A novel feature extracting approach was designed for classification using the average amino acid pairing encoding matrix (APEM). Analytical results of the classification indicated that a segment of β-strand had the ability to distinguish β-strands from segments of α-helix and coil. However, the result also showed that a β-strand was not strongly conserved to choose its real partner from all the alternative β-strand partners, which was corresponding with the ordination results of the statistical analysis each other. Thus, the rules of "first come first pair" propensity and the non-conservative ability to choose real partner, were possible important factors affecting the β-strands alignment forming β-sheet structures.