1
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Bauer MS, Gruber S, Hausch A, Melo MCR, Gomes PSFC, Nicolaus T, Milles LF, Gaub HE, Bernardi RC, Lipfert J. Single-molecule force stability of the SARS-CoV-2-ACE2 interface in variants-of-concern. Nat Nanotechnol 2024; 19:399-405. [PMID: 38012274 DOI: 10.1038/s41565-023-01536-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 have shown effective evasion of population immunity and increased affinity to the cellular receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). However, in the dynamic environment of the respiratory tract, forces act on the binding partners, which raises the question of whether not only affinity but also force stability of the SARS-CoV-2-ACE2 interaction might be a selection factor for mutations. Using magnetic tweezers, we investigate the impact of amino acid substitutions in variants of concern (Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta) and on force-stability and bond kinetic of the receptor-binding domain-ACE2 interface at a single-molecule resolution. We find a higher affinity for all of the variants of concern (>fivefold) compared with the wild type. In contrast, Alpha is the only variant of concern that shows higher force stability (by 17%) compared with the wild type. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we rationalize the mechanistic molecular origins of this increase in force stability. Our study emphasizes the diversity of contributions to the transmissibility of variants and establishes force stability as one of the several factors for fitness. Understanding fitness advantages opens the possibility for the prediction of probable mutations, allowing a rapid adjustment of therapeutics, vaccines and intervention measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magnus S Bauer
- Department of Physics and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Sophia Gruber
- Department of Physics and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Adina Hausch
- Department of Physics and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
- Center for Protein Assemblies, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | | | | | - Thomas Nicolaus
- Department of Physics and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Lukas F Milles
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Hermann E Gaub
- Department of Physics and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | | | - Jan Lipfert
- Department of Physics and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
- Department of Physics and Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
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2
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Sumida K, Núñez-Franco R, Kalvet I, Pellock SJ, Wicky BIM, Milles LF, Dauparas J, Wang J, Kipnis Y, Jameson N, Kang A, De La Cruz J, Sankaran B, Bera AK, Jiménez-Osés G, Baker D. Improving Protein Expression, Stability, and Function with ProteinMPNN. J Am Chem Soc 2024; 146:2054-2061. [PMID: 38194293 PMCID: PMC10811672 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c10941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 12/03/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
Natural proteins are highly optimized for function but are often difficult to produce at a scale suitable for biotechnological applications due to poor expression in heterologous systems, limited solubility, and sensitivity to temperature. Thus, a general method that improves the physical properties of native proteins while maintaining function could have wide utility for protein-based technologies. Here, we show that the deep neural network ProteinMPNN, together with evolutionary and structural information, provides a route to increasing protein expression, stability, and function. For both myoglobin and tobacco etch virus (TEV) protease, we generated designs with improved expression, elevated melting temperatures, and improved function. For TEV protease, we identified multiple designs with improved catalytic activity as compared to the parent sequence and previously reported TEV variants. Our approach should be broadly useful for improving the expression, stability, and function of biotechnologically important proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kiera
H. Sumida
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Institute
for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Reyes Núñez-Franco
- Center
for Cooperative Research in Biosciences, Basque Research and Technology Alliance, Derio 48160, Spain
| | - Indrek Kalvet
- Institute
for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Howard
Hughes Medical Institute, University of
Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Samuel J. Pellock
- Institute
for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Basile I. M. Wicky
- Institute
for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Lukas F. Milles
- Institute
for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Justas Dauparas
- Institute
for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Jue Wang
- Institute
for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Yakov Kipnis
- Institute
for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Howard
Hughes Medical Institute, University of
Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Noel Jameson
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Alex Kang
- Institute
for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Joshmyn De La Cruz
- Institute
for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Banumathi Sankaran
- Berkeley
Center for Structural Biology, Molecular Biophysics, and Integrated
Bioimaging, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Asim K. Bera
- Institute
for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Gonzalo Jiménez-Osés
- Center
for Cooperative Research in Biosciences, Basque Research and Technology Alliance, Derio 48160, Spain
- Ikerbasque,
Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao 48013, Spain
| | - David Baker
- Institute
for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Howard
Hughes Medical Institute, University of
Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
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3
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An L, Hicks DR, Zorine D, Dauparas J, Wicky BIM, Milles LF, Courbet A, Bera AK, Nguyen H, Kang A, Carter L, Baker D. Hallucination of closed repeat proteins containing central pockets. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2023; 30:1755-1760. [PMID: 37770718 PMCID: PMC10643118 DOI: 10.1038/s41594-023-01112-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023]
Abstract
In pseudocyclic proteins, such as TIM barrels, β barrels, and some helical transmembrane channels, a single subunit is repeated in a cyclic pattern, giving rise to a central cavity that can serve as a pocket for ligand binding or enzymatic activity. Inspired by these proteins, we devised a deep-learning-based approach to broadly exploring the space of closed repeat proteins starting from only a specification of the repeat number and length. Biophysical data for 38 structurally diverse pseudocyclic designs produced in Escherichia coli are consistent with the design models, and the three crystal structures we were able to obtain are very close to the designed structures. Docking studies suggest the diversity of folds and central pockets provide effective starting points for designing small-molecule binders and enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linna An
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Derrick R Hicks
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Dmitri Zorine
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Justas Dauparas
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Basile I M Wicky
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Lukas F Milles
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Alexis Courbet
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Asim K Bera
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Hannah Nguyen
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Alex Kang
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Lauren Carter
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - David Baker
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
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4
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Doyle LA, Takushi B, Kibler RD, Milles LF, Orozco CT, Jones JD, Jackson SE, Stoddard BL, Bradley P. De novo design of knotted tandem repeat proteins. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6746. [PMID: 37875492 PMCID: PMC10598012 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42388-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
De novo protein design methods can create proteins with folds not yet seen in nature. These methods largely focus on optimizing the compatibility between the designed sequence and the intended conformation, without explicit consideration of protein folding pathways. Deeply knotted proteins, whose topologies may introduce substantial barriers to folding, thus represent an interesting test case for protein design. Here we report our attempts to design proteins with trefoil (31) and pentafoil (51) knotted topologies. We extended previously described algorithms for tandem repeat protein design in order to construct deeply knotted backbones and matching designed repeat sequences (N = 3 repeats for the trefoil and N = 5 for the pentafoil). We confirmed the intended conformation for the trefoil design by X ray crystallography, and we report here on this protein's structure, stability, and folding behaviour. The pentafoil design misfolded into an asymmetric structure (despite a 5-fold symmetric sequence); two of the four repeat-repeat units matched the designed backbone while the other two diverged to form local contacts, leading to a trefoil rather than pentafoil knotted topology. Our results also provide insights into the folding of knotted proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsey A Doyle
- Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, 1100 Fairview Ave. North, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA
| | - Brittany Takushi
- Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, 1100 Fairview Ave. North, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA
| | - Ryan D Kibler
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Lukas F Milles
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Carolina T Orozco
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK
| | - Jonathan D Jones
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK
| | - Sophie E Jackson
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK
| | - Barry L Stoddard
- Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, 1100 Fairview Ave. North, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA.
| | - Philip Bradley
- Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, 1100 Fairview Ave. North, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA.
- Division of Public Health Sciences and Program in Computational Biology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, 1100 Fairview Ave. N, Seattle, WA, 98009, USA.
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5
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Watson JL, Juergens D, Bennett NR, Trippe BL, Yim J, Eisenach HE, Ahern W, Borst AJ, Ragotte RJ, Milles LF, Wicky BIM, Hanikel N, Pellock SJ, Courbet A, Sheffler W, Wang J, Venkatesh P, Sappington I, Torres SV, Lauko A, De Bortoli V, Mathieu E, Ovchinnikov S, Barzilay R, Jaakkola TS, DiMaio F, Baek M, Baker D. De novo design of protein structure and function with RFdiffusion. Nature 2023; 620:1089-1100. [PMID: 37433327 PMCID: PMC10468394 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06415-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 108] [Impact Index Per Article: 108.0] [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: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023]
Abstract
There has been considerable recent progress in designing new proteins using deep-learning methods1-9. Despite this progress, a general deep-learning framework for protein design that enables solution of a wide range of design challenges, including de novo binder design and design of higher-order symmetric architectures, has yet to be described. Diffusion models10,11 have had considerable success in image and language generative modelling but limited success when applied to protein modelling, probably due to the complexity of protein backbone geometry and sequence-structure relationships. Here we show that by fine-tuning the RoseTTAFold structure prediction network on protein structure denoising tasks, we obtain a generative model of protein backbones that achieves outstanding performance on unconditional and topology-constrained protein monomer design, protein binder design, symmetric oligomer design, enzyme active site scaffolding and symmetric motif scaffolding for therapeutic and metal-binding protein design. We demonstrate the power and generality of the method, called RoseTTAFold diffusion (RFdiffusion), by experimentally characterizing the structures and functions of hundreds of designed symmetric assemblies, metal-binding proteins and protein binders. The accuracy of RFdiffusion is confirmed by the cryogenic electron microscopy structure of a designed binder in complex with influenza haemagglutinin that is nearly identical to the design model. In a manner analogous to networks that produce images from user-specified inputs, RFdiffusion enables the design of diverse functional proteins from simple molecular specifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph L Watson
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - David Juergens
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Graduate Program in Molecular Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Nathaniel R Bennett
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Graduate Program in Molecular Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Brian L Trippe
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Columbia University, Department of Statistics, New York, NY, USA
- Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jason Yim
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Helen E Eisenach
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Woody Ahern
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Andrew J Borst
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Robert J Ragotte
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Lukas F Milles
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Basile I M Wicky
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Nikita Hanikel
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Samuel J Pellock
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Alexis Courbet
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- National Centre for Scientific Research, École Normale Supérieure rue d'Ulm, Paris, France
| | - William Sheffler
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Jue Wang
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Preetham Venkatesh
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Graduate Program in Biological Physics, Structure and Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Isaac Sappington
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Graduate Program in Biological Physics, Structure and Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Susana Vázquez Torres
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Graduate Program in Biological Physics, Structure and Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Anna Lauko
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Graduate Program in Biological Physics, Structure and Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Valentin De Bortoli
- National Centre for Scientific Research, École Normale Supérieure rue d'Ulm, Paris, France
| | - Emile Mathieu
- Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sergey Ovchinnikov
- Faculty of Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellowship, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | | | - Frank DiMaio
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Minkyung Baek
- School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - David Baker
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
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6
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Wang J, Lisanza S, Juergens D, Tischer D, Watson JL, Castro KM, Ragotte R, Saragovi A, Milles LF, Baek M, Anishchenko I, Yang W, Hicks DR, Expòsit M, Schlichthaerle T, Chun JH, Dauparas J, Bennett N, Wicky BIM, Muenks A, DiMaio F, Correia B, Ovchinnikov S, Baker D. Scaffolding protein functional sites using deep learning. Science 2022; 377:387-394. [PMID: 35862514 PMCID: PMC9621694 DOI: 10.1126/science.abn2100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 120] [Impact Index Per Article: 60.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
The binding and catalytic functions of proteins are generally mediated by a small number of functional residues held in place by the overall protein structure. Here, we describe deep learning approaches for scaffolding such functional sites without needing to prespecify the fold or secondary structure of the scaffold. The first approach, "constrained hallucination," optimizes sequences such that their predicted structures contain the desired functional site. The second approach, "inpainting," starts from the functional site and fills in additional sequence and structure to create a viable protein scaffold in a single forward pass through a specifically trained RoseTTAFold network. We use these two methods to design candidate immunogens, receptor traps, metalloproteins, enzymes, and protein-binding proteins and validate the designs using a combination of in silico and experimental tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jue Wang
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Sidney Lisanza
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Graduate program in Biological Physics, Structure and
Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - David Juergens
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Molecular Engineering Graduate Program, University of
Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Doug Tischer
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Joseph L. Watson
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Karla M. Castro
- Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique
Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Robert Ragotte
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Amijai Saragovi
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Lukas F. Milles
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Minkyung Baek
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Ivan Anishchenko
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Wei Yang
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Derrick R. Hicks
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Marc Expòsit
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Molecular Engineering Graduate Program, University of
Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Thomas Schlichthaerle
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Jung-Ho Chun
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Graduate program in Biological Physics, Structure and
Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Justas Dauparas
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Nathaniel Bennett
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Molecular Engineering Graduate Program, University of
Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Basile I. M. Wicky
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Andrew Muenks
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Frank DiMaio
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Bruno Correia
- Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique
Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Sergey Ovchinnikov
- FAS Division of Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
02138, USA,John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellowship Program,
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA,To whom correspondence should be addressed.
,
| | - David Baker
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98105, USA,To whom correspondence should be addressed.
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7
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Bauer MS, Gruber S, Hausch A, Milles LF, Nicolaus T, Schendel LC, López Navajas P, Procko E, Lietha D, Bernardi RC, Lipfert J, Gaub HE. A tethered ligand assay to probe SARS-CoV-2:ACE2 interactions. Biophys J 2022. [PMCID: PMC8833015 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.11.2564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
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8
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Kluger C, Braun L, Sedlak SM, Pippig DA, Bauer MS, Miller K, Milles LF, Gaub HE, Vogel V. Different Vinculin Binding Sites Use the Same Mechanism to Regulate Directional Force Transduction. Biophys J 2020; 118:1344-1356. [PMID: 32109366 PMCID: PMC7091509 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2019.12.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2019] [Revised: 12/17/2019] [Accepted: 12/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Vinculin is a universal adaptor protein that transiently reinforces the mechanical stability of adhesion complexes. It stabilizes mechanical connections that cells establish between the actomyosin cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix via integrins or to neighboring cells via cadherins, yet little is known regarding its mechanical design. Vinculin binding sites (VBSs) from different nonhomologous actin-binding proteins use conserved helical motifs to associate with the vinculin head domain. We studied the mechanical stability of such complexes by pulling VBS peptides derived from talin, α-actinin, and Shigella IpaA out of the vinculin head domain. Experimental data from atomic force microscopy single-molecule force spectroscopy and steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations both revealed greater mechanical stability of the complex for shear-like than for zipper-like pulling configurations. This suggests that reinforcement occurs along preferential force directions, thus stabilizing those cytoskeletal filament architectures that result in shear-like pulling geometries. Large force-induced conformational changes in the vinculin head domain, as well as protein-specific fine-tuning of the VBS sequence, including sequence inversion, allow for an even more nuanced force response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carleen Kluger
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Lukas Braun
- Laboratory of Applied Mechanobiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Steffen M Sedlak
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Diana A Pippig
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Magnus S Bauer
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Ken Miller
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Lukas F Milles
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Hermann E Gaub
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Viola Vogel
- Laboratory of Applied Mechanobiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
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9
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Bernardi RC, Milles LF, Gaub HE. NAMD as a Tool for In Silico Force Spectroscopy. Biophys J 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2019.11.911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
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10
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Abstract
Single-molecule cut-and-paste facilitates bottom-up directed assembly of nanoscale biomolecular networks in defined geometries and enables analysis with spatio-temporal resolution. However, arrangement of diverse molecules of interest requires versatile handling systems. The novel DNA-free, genetically encodable scheme described here utilises an orthogonal handling strategy to promote arrangement of enzymes and enzyme networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine R Erlich
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Amalienstr. 54, 80799 München, Germany.
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11
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Abstract
Staphylococcal pathogens adhere to their human targets with exceptional resilience to mechanical stress, some propagating force to the bacterium via small, Ig-like folds called B domains. We examine the mechanical stability of these folds using atomic force microscopy-based single-molecule force spectroscopy. The force required to unfold a single B domain is larger than 2 nN – the highest mechanostability of a protein to date by a large margin. B domains coordinate three calcium ions, which we identify as crucial for their extreme mechanical strength. When calcium is removed through chelation, unfolding forces drop by a factor of four. Through systematic mutations in the calcium coordination sites we can tune the unfolding forces from over 2 nN to 0.15 nN, and dissect the contribution of each ion to B domain mechanostability. Their extraordinary strength, rapid refolding and calcium-tunable force response make B domains interesting protein design targets. Staphylococcal pathogens adhere to their human targets using adhesins, which can withstand extremely high forces. Here, authors use single-molecule force spectroscopy to determine the similarly high unfolding forces of B domains that link the adhesin to the bacterium.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas F Milles
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Amalienstr. 54, 80799, Munich, Germany.
| | - Eduard M Unterauer
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Amalienstr. 54, 80799, Munich, Germany
| | - Thomas Nicolaus
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Amalienstr. 54, 80799, Munich, Germany
| | - Hermann E Gaub
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Amalienstr. 54, 80799, Munich, Germany.
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12
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Milles LF, Schulten K, Gaub HE, Bernardi RC. Molecular mechanism of extreme mechanostability in a pathogen adhesin. Science 2018; 359:1527-1533. [PMID: 29599244 DOI: 10.1126/science.aar2094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 132] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2017] [Accepted: 03/01/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
High resilience to mechanical stress is key when pathogens adhere to their target and initiate infection. Using atomic force microscopy-based single-molecule force spectroscopy, we explored the mechanical stability of the prototypical staphylococcal adhesin SdrG, which targets a short peptide from human fibrinogen β. Steered molecular dynamics simulations revealed, and single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments confirmed, the mechanism by which this complex withstands forces of over 2 nanonewtons, a regime previously associated with the strength of a covalent bond. The target peptide, confined in a screwlike manner in the binding pocket of SdrG, distributes forces mainly toward the peptide backbone through an intricate hydrogen bond network. Thus, these adhesins can attach to their target with exceptionally resilient mechanostability, virtually independent of peptide side chains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas F Milles
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Amalienstrasse 54, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Klaus Schulten
- NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Hermann E Gaub
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Amalienstrasse 54, 80799 Munich, Germany.
| | - Rafael C Bernardi
- NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
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13
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14
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Sedlak SM, Bauer MS, Kluger C, Schendel LC, Milles LF, Pippig DA, Gaub HE. Monodisperse measurement of the biotin-streptavidin interaction strength in a well-defined pulling geometry. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0188722. [PMID: 29206886 PMCID: PMC5716544 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2017] [Accepted: 11/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The widely used interaction of the homotetramer streptavidin with the small molecule biotin has been intensively studied by force spectroscopy and has become a model system for receptor ligand interaction. However, streptavidin's tetravalency results in diverse force propagation pathways through the different binding interfaces. This multiplicity gives rise to polydisperse force spectroscopy data. Here, we present an engineered monovalent streptavidin tetramer with a single cysteine in its functional subunit that allows for site-specific immobilization of the molecule, orthogonal to biotin binding. Functionality of streptavidin and its binding properties for biotin remain unaffected. We thus created a stable and reliable molecular anchor with a unique high-affinity binding site for biotinylated molecules or nanoparticles, which we expect to be useful for many single-molecule applications. To characterize the mechanical properties of the bond between biotin and our monovalent streptavidin, we performed force spectroscopy experiments using an atomic force microscope. We were able to conduct measurements at the single-molecule level with 1:1-stoichiometry and a well-defined geometry, in which force exclusively propagates through a single subunit of the streptavidin tetramer. For different force loading rates, we obtained narrow force distributions of the bond rupture forces ranging from 200 pN at 1,500 pN/s to 230 pN at 110,000 pN/s. The data are in very good agreement with the standard Bell-Evans model with a single potential barrier at Δx0 = 0.38 nm and a zero-force off-rate koff,0 in the 10-6 s-1 range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steffen M. Sedlak
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Magnus S. Bauer
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Carleen Kluger
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Leonard C. Schendel
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Lukas F. Milles
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Diana A. Pippig
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Hermann E. Gaub
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- * E-mail:
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Ott W, Jobst MA, Bauer MS, Durner E, Milles LF, Nash MA, Gaub HE. Elastin-like Polypeptide Linkers for Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy. ACS Nano 2017; 11:6346-6354. [PMID: 28591514 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b02694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) is by now well established as a standard technique in biophysics and mechanobiology. In recent years, the technique has benefitted greatly from new approaches to bioconjugation of proteins to surfaces. Indeed, optimized immobilization strategies for biomolecules and refined purification schemes are being steadily adapted and improved, which in turn has enhanced data quality. In many previously reported SMFS studies, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) was used to anchor molecules of interest to surfaces and/or cantilever tips. The limitation, however, is that PEG exhibits a well-known trans-trans-gauche to all-trans transition, which results in marked deviation from standard polymer elasticity models such as the worm-like chain, particularly at elevated forces. As a result, the assignment of unfolding events to protein domains based on their corresponding amino acid chain lengths is significantly obscured. Here, we provide a solution to this problem by implementing unstructured elastin-like polypeptides as linkers to replace PEG. We investigate the suitability of tailored elastin-like polypeptides linkers and perform direct comparisons to PEG, focusing on attributes that are critical for single-molecule force experiments such as linker length, monodispersity, and bioorthogonal conjugation tags. Our results demonstrate that by avoiding the ambiguous elastic response of mixed PEG/peptide systems and instead building the molecular mechanical systems with only a single bond type with uniform elastic properties, we improve data quality and facilitate data analysis and interpretation in force spectroscopy experiments. The use of all-peptide linkers allows alternative approaches for precisely defining elastic properties of proteins linked to surfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wolfgang Ott
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , 80799 Munich, Germany
- Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CIPSM), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , 81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Markus A Jobst
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Magnus S Bauer
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Ellis Durner
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Lukas F Milles
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Michael A Nash
- Department of Chemistry, University of Basel , 4056 Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) , 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Hermann E Gaub
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , 80799 Munich, Germany
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16
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Milles LF, Bayer EA, Nash MA, Gaub HE. Mechanical Stability of a High-Affinity Toxin Anchor from the Pathogen Clostridium perfringens. J Phys Chem B 2016; 121:3620-3625. [PMID: 27991799 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b09593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The opportunistic pathogen Clostridium perfringens assembles its toxins and carbohydrate-active enzymes by the high-affinity cohesin-dockerin (Coh-Doc) interaction. Coh-Doc interactions characterized previously have shown considerable resilience toward mechanical stress. Here, we aimed to determine the mechanics of this interaction from C. perfringens in the context of a pathogen. Using atomic force microscopy based single-molecule force spectroscopy (AFM-SMFS) we probed the mechanical properties of the interaction of a dockerin from the μ-toxin with the GH84C X82 cohesin domain of C. perfringens. Most probable complex rupture forces were found to be approximately 60 pN and an estimate of the binding potential width was performed. The dockerin was expressed with its adjacent FIVAR (found in various architectures) domain, whose mechanostability we determined to be very similar to the complex. Additionally, fast refolding of this domain was observed. The Coh-Doc interaction from C. perfringens is the mechanically weakest observed to date. Our results establish the relevant force range of toxin assembly mechanics in pathogenic Clostridia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas F Milles
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University , Amalienstr. 54, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Edward A Bayer
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, The Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - Michael A Nash
- Department of Chemistry, University of Basel , Klingelbergstr. 80, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.,Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH-Zürich) , Mattenstr. 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Hermann E Gaub
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University , Amalienstr. 54, 80799 Munich, Germany
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17
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Baumann F, Bauer MS, Milles LF, Alexandrovich A, Gaub HE, Pippig DA. Monovalent Strep-Tactin for strong and site-specific tethering in nanospectroscopy. Nat Nanotechnol 2016; 11:89-94. [PMID: 26457965 DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2015.231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2015] [Accepted: 09/03/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Strep-Tactin, an engineered form of streptavidin, binds avidly to the genetically encoded peptide Strep-tag II in a manner comparable to streptavidin binding to biotin. These interactions have been used in protein purification and detection applications. However, in single-molecule studies, for example using atomic force microscopy-based single-molecule force spectroscopy (AFM-SMFS), the tetravalency of these systems impedes the measurement of monodispersed data. Here, we introduce a monovalent form of Strep-Tactin that harbours a unique binding site for Strep-tag II and a single cysteine that allows Strep-Tactin to specifically attach to the atomic force microscope cantilever and form a consistent pulling geometry to obtain homogeneous rupture data. Using AFM-SMFS, the mechanical properties of the interaction between Strep-tag II and monovalent Strep-Tactin were characterized. Rupture forces comparable to biotin:streptavidin unbinding were observed. Using titin kinase and green fluorescent protein, we show that monovalent Strep-Tactin is generally applicable to protein unfolding experiments. We expect monovalent Strep-Tactin to be a reliable anchoring tool for a range of single-molecule studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Baumann
- Center for Nanoscience and Department of Physics, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Amalienstraße 54, Munich 80799, Germany
| | - Magnus S Bauer
- Center for Nanoscience and Department of Physics, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Amalienstraße 54, Munich 80799, Germany
| | - Lukas F Milles
- Center for Nanoscience and Department of Physics, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Amalienstraße 54, Munich 80799, Germany
| | - Alexander Alexandrovich
- Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics and Cardiovascular Division, New Hunt's House, King's College London, London SE1 1UL, UK
| | - Hermann E Gaub
- Center for Nanoscience and Department of Physics, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Amalienstraße 54, Munich 80799, Germany
| | - Diana A Pippig
- Center for Nanoscience and Department of Physics, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Amalienstraße 54, Munich 80799, Germany
- Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Butenandtstraße 5-13, Munich 81377, Germany
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Jobst MA, Milles LF, Schoeler C, Ott W, Fried DB, Bayer EA, Gaub HE, Nash MA. Resolving dual binding conformations of cellulosome cohesin-dockerin complexes using single-molecule force spectroscopy. eLife 2015; 4. [PMID: 26519733 PMCID: PMC4728124 DOI: 10.7554/elife.10319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2015] [Accepted: 10/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Receptor-ligand pairs are ordinarily thought to interact through a lock and key mechanism, where a unique molecular conformation is formed upon binding. Contrary to this paradigm, cellulosomal cohesin-dockerin (Coh-Doc) pairs are believed to interact through redundant dual binding modes consisting of two distinct conformations. Here, we combined site-directed mutagenesis and single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) to study the unbinding of Coh:Doc complexes under force. We designed Doc mutations to knock out each binding mode, and compared their single-molecule unfolding patterns as they were dissociated from Coh using an atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever. Although average bulk measurements were unable to resolve the differences in Doc binding modes due to the similarity of the interactions, with a single-molecule method we were able to discriminate the two modes based on distinct differences in their mechanical properties. We conclude that under native conditions wild-type Doc from Clostridium thermocellum exocellulase Cel48S populates both binding modes with similar probabilities. Given the vast number of Doc domains with predicted dual binding modes across multiple bacterial species, our approach opens up new possibilities for understanding assembly and catalytic properties of a broad range of multi-enzyme complexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus A Jobst
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.,Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Lukas F Milles
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.,Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Constantin Schoeler
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.,Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Ott
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.,Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | | | - Edward A Bayer
- Department of Biological Chemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Hermann E Gaub
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.,Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Michael A Nash
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.,Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
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Aschenbrenner D, Baumann F, Milles LF, Pippig DA, Gaub HE. Inside Back Cover: C-5 Propynyl Modifications Enhance the Mechanical Stability of DNA (ChemPhysChem 10/2015). Chemphyschem 2015. [DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201590055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Aschenbrenner D, Baumann F, Milles LF, Pippig DA, Gaub HE. C-5 Propynyl Modifications Enhance the Mechanical Stability of DNA. Chemphyschem 2015; 16:2085-90. [PMID: 25982589 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201500193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [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] [Received: 03/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Increased thermal or mechanical stability of DNA duplexes is desired for many applications in nanotechnology or -medicine where DNA is used as a programmable building block. Modifications of pyrimidine bases are known to enhance thermal stability and have the advantage of standard base-pairing and easy integration during chemical DNA synthesis. Through single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments with atomic force microscopy and the molecular force assay we investigated the effect of pyrimidines harboring C-5 propynyl modifications on the mechanical stability of double-stranded DNA. Utilizing these complementary techniques, we show that propynyl bases significantly increase the mechanical stability if the DNA is annealed at high temperature. In contrast, modified DNA complexes formed at room temperature and short incubation times display the same stability as non-modified DNA duplexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Aschenbrenner
- Center for Nanoscience and Department of Physics, University of Munich, Amalienstrasse 54, 80799 München (Germany)
| | - Fabian Baumann
- Center for Nanoscience and Department of Physics, University of Munich, Amalienstrasse 54, 80799 München (Germany)
| | - Lukas F Milles
- Center for Nanoscience and Department of Physics, University of Munich, Amalienstrasse 54, 80799 München (Germany)
| | - Diana A Pippig
- Center for Nanoscience and Department of Physics, University of Munich, Amalienstrasse 54, 80799 München (Germany). .,Munich Center for Integrated Protein Science (CIPSM), Butenandtstr. 5-13, 81377 München (Germany).
| | - Hermann E Gaub
- Center for Nanoscience and Department of Physics, University of Munich, Amalienstrasse 54, 80799 München (Germany)
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Otten M, Ott W, Jobst MA, Milles LF, Verdorfer T, Pippig DA, Nash MA, Gaub HE. Erratum: Corrigendum: From genes to protein mechanics on a chip. Nat Methods 2015. [DOI: 10.1038/nmeth0215-160a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Schoeler C, Malinowska KH, Bernardi RC, Milles LF, Jobst MA, Durner E, Ott W, Fried DB, Bayer EA, Schulten K, Gaub HE, Nash MA. Ultrastable cellulosome-adhesion complex tightens under load. Nat Commun 2014; 5:5635. [PMID: 25482395 PMCID: PMC4266597 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2014] [Accepted: 10/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Challenging environments have guided nature in the development of ultrastable protein complexes. Specialized bacteria produce discrete multi-component protein networks called cellulosomes to effectively digest lignocellulosic biomass. While network assembly is enabled by protein interactions with commonplace affinities, we show that certain cellulosomal ligand-receptor interactions exhibit extreme resistance to applied force. Here, we characterize the ligand-receptor complex responsible for substrate anchoring in the Ruminococcus flavefaciens cellulosome using single-molecule force spectroscopy and steered molecular dynamics simulations. The complex withstands forces of 600-750 pN, making it one of the strongest bimolecular interactions reported, equivalent to half the mechanical strength of a covalent bond. Our findings demonstrate force activation and inter-domain stabilization of the complex, and suggest that certain network components serve as mechanical effectors for maintaining network integrity. This detailed understanding of cellulosomal network components may help in the development of biocatalysts for production of fuels and chemicals from renewable plant-derived biomass.
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Affiliation(s)
- Constantin Schoeler
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Klara H Malinowska
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Rafael C Bernardi
- Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - Lukas F Milles
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Markus A Jobst
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Ellis Durner
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Ott
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Daniel B Fried
- Department of Biological Chemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - Edward A Bayer
- Department of Biological Chemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - Klaus Schulten
- 1] Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA [2] Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - Hermann E Gaub
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Michael A Nash
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
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Otten M, Ott W, Jobst MA, Milles LF, Verdorfer T, Pippig DA, Nash MA, Gaub HE. From genes to protein mechanics on a chip. Nat Methods 2014; 11:1127-1130. [PMID: 25194847 PMCID: PMC4216144 DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.3099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2014] [Accepted: 07/29/2014] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Single-molecule force spectroscopy enables mechanical testing of individual proteins, but low experimental throughput limits the ability to screen constructs in parallel. We describe a microfluidic platform for on-chip expression, covalent surface attachment and measurement of single-molecule protein mechanical properties. A dockerin tag on each protein molecule allowed us to perform thousands of pulling cycles using a single cohesin-modified cantilever. The ability to synthesize and mechanically probe protein libraries enables high-throughput mechanical phenotyping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus Otten
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
- Center for Nanoscience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Ott
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
- Center for Nanoscience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Markus A Jobst
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
- Center for Nanoscience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Lukas F Milles
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
- Center for Nanoscience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Tobias Verdorfer
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
- Center for Nanoscience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Diana A Pippig
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
- Center for Nanoscience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
- Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CIPSM), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Michael A Nash
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
- Center for Nanoscience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Hermann E Gaub
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
- Center for Nanoscience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 Munich, Germany
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25
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Malinowska KH, Verdorfer T, Meinhold A, Milles LF, Funk V, Gaub HE, Nash MA. Redox-initiated hydrogel system for detection and real-time imaging of cellulolytic enzyme activity. ChemSusChem 2014; 7:2759. [PMID: 25213832 DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201402796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Klara H Malinowska
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Amalienstrasse 54, 80799 Munich (Germany)
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26
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Malinowska KH, Verdorfer T, Meinhold A, Milles LF, Funk V, Gaub HE, Nash MA. Redox-initiated hydrogel system for detection and real-time imaging of cellulolytic enzyme activity. ChemSusChem 2014; 7:2825-2831. [PMID: 25116339 DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201402428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2014] [Revised: 06/12/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the process of biomass degradation by cellulolytic enzymes is of urgent importance for biofuel and chemical production. Optimizing pretreatment conditions and improving enzyme formulations both require assays to quantify saccharification products on solid substrates. Typically, such assays are performed using freely diffusing fluorophores or dyes that measure reducing polysaccharide chain ends. These methods have thus far not allowed spatial localization of hydrolysis activity to specific substrate locations with identifiable morphological features. Here we describe a hydrogel reagent signaling (HyReS) system that amplifies saccharification products and initiates crosslinking of a hydrogel that localizes to locations of cellulose hydrolysis, allowing for imaging of the degradation process in real time. Optical detection of the gel in a rapid parallel format on synthetic and natural pretreated solid substrates was used to quantify activity of T. emersonii and T. reesei enzyme cocktails. When combined with total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and AFM imaging, the reagent system provided a means to visualize enzyme activity in real-time with high spatial resolution (<2 μm). These results demonstrate the versatility of the HyReS system in detecting cellulolytic enzyme activity and suggest new opportunities in real-time chemical imaging of biomass depolymerization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klara H Malinowska
- Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Amalienstrasse 54, 80799 Munich (Germany)
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