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Tahti EF, Blount JM, Jackson SN, Gao M, Gill NP, Smith SN, Pederson NJ, Rumph SN, Struyvenberg SA, Mackley IGP, Madden DR, Amacher JF. Additive energetic contributions of multiple peptide positions determine the relative promiscuity of viral and human sequences for PDZ domain targets. Protein Sci 2023; 32:e4611. [PMID: 36851847 PMCID: PMC10022582 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2023]
Abstract
Protein-protein interactions that involve recognition of short peptides are critical in cellular processes. Protein-peptide interaction surface areas are relatively small and shallow, and there are often overlapping specificities in families of peptide-binding domains. Therefore, dissecting selectivity determinants can be challenging. PDZ domains are a family of peptide-binding domains located in several intracellular signaling and trafficking pathways. These domains are also directly targeted by pathogens, and a hallmark of many oncogenic viral proteins is a PDZ-binding motif. However, amidst sequences that target PDZ domains, there is a wide spectrum in relative promiscuity. For example, the viral HPV16 E6 oncoprotein recognizes over double the number of PDZ domain-containing proteins as the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in the cell, despite similar PDZ targeting-sequences and identical motif residues. Here, we determine binding affinities for PDZ domains known to bind either HPV16 E6 alone or both CFTR and HPV16 E6, using peptides matching WT and hybrid sequences. We also use energy minimization to model PDZ-peptide complexes and use sequence analyses to investigate this difference. We find that while the majority of single mutations had marginal effects on overall affinity, the additive effect on the free energy of binding accurately describes the selectivity observed. Taken together, our results describe how complex and differing PDZ interactomes can be programmed in the cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elise F. Tahti
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | - Jadon M. Blount
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | - Sophie N. Jackson
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | - Melody Gao
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | - Nicholas P. Gill
- Department of BiochemistryGeisel School of Medicine at DartmouthHanoverNew HampshireUSA
| | - Sarah N. Smith
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | - Nick J. Pederson
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | | | | | - Iain G. P. Mackley
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | - Dean R. Madden
- Department of BiochemistryGeisel School of Medicine at DartmouthHanoverNew HampshireUSA
| | - Jeanine F. Amacher
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
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Tahti EF, Blount JM, Jackson SN, Gao M, Gill NP, Smith SN, Pederson NJ, Rumph SN, Struyvenberg SA, Mackley IGP, Madden DR, Amacher JF. Additive energetic contributions of multiple peptide positions determine the relative promiscuity of viral and human sequences for PDZ domain targets. bioRxiv 2023:2022.12.31.522388. [PMID: 36711692 PMCID: PMC9881875 DOI: 10.1101/2022.12.31.522388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Protein-protein interactions that include recognition of short sequences of amino acids, or peptides, are critical in cellular processes. Protein-peptide interaction surface areas are relatively small and shallow, and there are often overlapping specificities in families of peptide-binding domains. Therefore, dissecting selectivity determinants can be challenging. PDZ domains are an example of a peptide-binding domain located in several intracellular signaling and trafficking pathways, which form interactions critical for the regulation of receptor endocytic trafficking, tight junction formation, organization of supramolecular complexes in neurons, and other biological systems. These domains are also directly targeted by pathogens, and a hallmark of many oncogenic viral proteins is a PDZ-binding motif. However, amidst sequences that target PDZ domains, there is a wide spectrum in relative promiscuity. For example, the viral HPV16 E6 oncoprotein recognizes over double the number of PDZ domain-containing proteins as the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in the cell, despite similar PDZ targeting-sequences and identical motif residues. Here, we determine binding affinities for PDZ domains known to bind either HPV16 E6 alone or both CFTR and HPV16 E6, using peptides matching WT and hybrid sequences. We also use energy minimization to model PDZ-peptide complexes and use sequence analyses to investigate this difference. We find that while the majority of single mutations had a marginal effect on overall affinity, the additive effect on the free energy of binding accurately describes the selectivity observed. Taken together, our results describe how complex and differing PDZ interactomes can be programmed in the cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elise F. Tahti
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Jadon M. Blount
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Sophie N. Jackson
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Melody Gao
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Nicholas P. Gill
- Department of Biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Sarah N. Smith
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Nick J. Pederson
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Simone N. Rumph
- Department of Biochemistry, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME, USA
| | | | - Iain G. P. Mackley
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Dean R. Madden
- Department of Biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Jeanine F. Amacher
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
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Zheng F, Grigoryan G. Simplifying the Design of Protein-Peptide Interaction Specificity with Sequence-Based Representations of Atomistic Models. Methods Mol Biol 2018; 1561:189-200. [PMID: 28236239 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6798-8_11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Computationally designed peptides targeting protein-protein interaction interfaces are of great interest as reagents for biological research and potential therapeutics. In recent years, it has been shown that detailed structure-based calculations can, in favorable cases, describe relevant determinants of protein-peptide recognition. Yet, despite large increases in available computing power, such accurate modeling of the binding reaction is still largely outside the realm of protein design. The chief limitation is in the large sequence spaces generally involved in protein design problems, such that it is typically infeasible to apply expensive modeling techniques to score each sequence. Toward addressing this issue, we have previously shown that by explicitly evaluating the scores of a relatively small number of sequences, it is possible to synthesize a direct mapping between sequences and scores, such that the entire sequence space can be analyzed extremely rapidly. The associated method, called Cluster Expansion, has been used in a number of studies to design binding affinity and specificity. In this chapter, we provide instructions and guidance for applying this technique in the context of designing protein-peptide interactions to enable the use of more detailed and expensive scoring approaches than is typically possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fan Zheng
- Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA
| | - Gevorg Grigoryan
- Department of Computer Science, Dartmouth College, 6211 Sudikoff Lab, Room 113, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA. .,Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA.
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Zheng F, Jewell H, Fitzpatrick J, Zhang J, Mierke DF, Grigoryan G. Computational design of selective peptides to discriminate between similar PDZ domains in an oncogenic pathway. J Mol Biol 2014; 427:491-510. [PMID: 25451599 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2014.10.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2014] [Revised: 10/21/2014] [Accepted: 10/23/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Reagents that target protein-protein interactions to rewire signaling are of great relevance in biological research. Computational protein design may offer a means of creating such reagents on demand, but methods for encoding targeting selectivity are sorely needed. This is especially challenging when targeting interactions with ubiquitous recognition modules--for example, PDZ domains, which bind C-terminal sequences of partner proteins. Here we consider the problem of designing selective PDZ inhibitor peptides in the context of an oncogenic signaling pathway, in which two PDZ domains (NHERF-2 PDZ2-N2P2 and MAGI-3 PDZ6-M3P6) compete for a receptor C-terminus to differentially modulate oncogenic activities. Because N2P2 has been shown to increase tumorigenicity and M3P6 to decreases it, we sought to design peptides that inhibit N2P2 without affecting M3P6. We developed a structure-based computational design framework that models peptide flexibility in binding yet is efficient enough to rapidly analyze tradeoffs between affinity and selectivity. Designed peptides showed low-micromolar inhibition constants for N2P2 and no detectable M3P6 binding. Peptides designed for reverse discrimination bound M3P6 tighter than N2P2, further testing our technology. Experimental and computational analysis of selectivity determinants revealed significant indirect energetic coupling in the binding site. Successful discrimination between N2P2 and M3P6, despite their overlapping binding preferences, is highly encouraging for computational approaches to selective PDZ targeting, especially because design relied on a homology model of M3P6. Still, we demonstrate specific deficiencies of structural modeling that must be addressed to enable truly robust design. The presented framework is general and can be applied in many scenarios to engineer selective targeting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fan Zheng
- Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - Heather Jewell
- Department of Computer Science, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | | | - Jian Zhang
- Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - Dale F Mierke
- Department of Chemistry, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - Gevorg Grigoryan
- Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA; Department of Computer Science, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
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