Comparison of terbium (III) luminescence enhancement in mutants of EF hand calcium binding proteins.

The luminescent isomorphous Ca2+ analogue, Tb3+, can be bound in the 12-amino acid metal binding sites of proteins of the EF hand family, and its luminescence can be enhanced by energy transfer from a nearby aromatic amino acid. Tb3+ can be used as a sensitive luminescent probe of the structure and function of these proteins. The effect of changing the molecular environment around Tb3+ on its luminescence was studied using native Cod III parvalbumin and site-directed mutants of both oncomodulin and calmodulin. Titrations of these proteins showed stoichiometries of fill corresponding to the number of Ca2+ binding loops present. Tryptophan in binding loop position 7 best enhanced Tb3+ luminescence in the oncomodulin mutant Y57W, as well as VU-9 (F99W) and VU-32 (T26W) calmodulin. Excitation spectra of Y57F, F102W, Y65W oncomodulin, and Cod III parvalbumin revealed that the principal Tb3+ luminescence donor residues were phenylalanine or tyrosine located in position 7 of a loop, despite the presence of other nearby donors, including tryptophan. Spectra also revealed conformational differences between the Ca2+- and Tb(3+)-bound forms. An alternate binding loop, based on Tb3+ binding to model peptides, was inserted into the CD loop of oncomodulin by cassette mutagenesis. The order of fill of Tb3+ in this protein reversed, with the mutated loop binding Tb3+ first. This indicates a much higher affinity for the consensus-based mutant loop. The mutant loop inserted into oncomodulin had 32 times more Tb3+ luminescence than the identical synthetic peptide, despite having the same donor tryptophan and metal binding ligands. In this paper, a ranking of sensitivity of luminescence of bound Tb3+ is made among this subset of calcium binding proteins. This ranking is interpreted in light of the structural differences affecting Tb3+ luminescence enhancement intensity. The mechanism of energy transfer from an aromatic amino acid to Tb3+ is consistent with a short-range process involving the donor triplet state as described by Dexter (Dexter, D. L. (1953) J. Chem. Phys. 21, 836). This cautions against the use of the Forster equation in approximating distances in these systems

Terbium luminescence in synthetic peptide loops from calcium-binding proteins with different energy donors.

Fourteen 14-mer peptides corresponding to a consensus sequence of metal-binding loops from proteins of the calmodulin family were synthesized. The effect of varying both the position in the binding loop, and the type of aromatic side chains as energy donors for enhancement of terbium luminescence, was studied. It was concluded that tryptophan in loop position 7 gave optimal luminescence enhancement, and that the additional inclusion of a tyrosine in the loop at positions 2 or 4 could further boost emission from the bound terbium. In all further cases energy transfer from aromatic residues at positions other than 7 was markedly less efficient. These results suggest that the peptides assume a configuration which allows a hexadentate ligand structure around the bound terbium ion. This is consistent with a Dexter-type electron exchange model of energy transfer

Structure-Templated Predictions of Novel Protein Interactions from Sequence Information

The multitude of functions performed in the cell are largely controlled by a set of carefully orchestrated protein interactions often facilitated by specific binding of conserved domains in the interacting proteins. Interacting domains commonly exhibit distinct binding specificity to short and conserved recognition peptides called binding profiles. Although many conserved domains are known in nature, only a few have well-characterized binding profiles. Here, we describe a novel predictive method known as domain–motif interactions from structural topology (D-MIST) for elucidating the binding profiles of interacting domains. A set of domains and their corresponding binding profiles were derived from extant protein structures and protein interaction data and then used to predict novel protein interactions in yeast. A number of the predicted interactions were verified experimentally, including new interactions of the mitotic exit network, RNA polymerases, nucleotide metabolism enzymes, and the chaperone complex. These results demonstrate that new protein interactions can be predicted exclusively from sequence information

Virology—the path forward

In the United States (US), biosafety and biosecurity oversight of research on viruses is being reappraised. Safety in virology research is paramount and oversight frameworks should be reviewed periodically. Changes should be made with care, however, to avoid impeding science that is essential for rapidly reducing and responding to pandemic threats as well as addressing more common challenges caused by infectious diseases. Decades of research uniquely positioned the US to be able to respond to the COVID-19 crisis with astounding speed, delivering life-saving vaccines within a year of identifying the virus. We should embolden and empower this strength, which is a vital part of protecting the health, economy, and security of US citizens. Herein, we offer our perspectives on priorities for revised rules governing virology research in the US

Computational modeling suggests binding-induced expansion of Epsin disordered regions upon association with AP2.

Intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) are prevalent in the eukaryotic proteome. Common functional roles of IDRs include forming flexible linkers or undergoing allosteric folding-upon-binding. Recent studies have suggested an additional functional role for IDRs: generating steric pressure on the plasma membrane during endocytosis, via molecular crowding. However, in order to accomplish useful functions, such crowding needs to be regulated in space (e.g., endocytic hotspots) and time (e.g., during vesicle formation). In this work, we explore binding-induced regulation of IDR steric volume. We simulate the IDRs of two proteins from Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) to see if their conformational spaces are regulated via binding-induced expansion. Using Monte-Carlo computational modeling of excluded volumes, we generate large conformational ensembles (3 million) for the IDRs of Epsin and Eps15 and dock the conformers to the alpha subunit of Adaptor Protein 2 (AP2α), their CME binding partner. Our results show that as more molecules of AP2α are bound, the Epsin-derived ensemble shows a significant increase in global dimensions, measured as the radius of Gyration (RG) and the end-to-end distance (EED). Unlike Epsin, Eps15-derived conformers that permit AP2α binding at one motif were found to be more likely to accommodate binding of AP2α at other motifs, suggesting a tendency toward co-accessibility of binding motifs. Co-accessibility was not observed for any pair of binding motifs in Epsin. Thus, we speculate that the disordered regions of Epsin and Eps15 perform different roles during CME, with accessibility in Eps15 allowing it to act as a recruiter of AP2α molecules, while binding-induced expansion of the Epsin disordered region could impose steric pressure and remodel the plasma membrane during vesicle formation

Computational modeling suggests binding-induced expansion of Epsin disordered regions upon association with AP2

10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008474PLoS Computational Biology171-Dece100847

A Cooperative jack model of random coil-to-elongation transition of the FH1 domain by profilin binding explains formin motor behavior in actin polymerization

Filopodia are essential for the development of neuronal growth cones, cell polarity and cell migration. Their protrusions are powered by the polymerization of actin filaments linked to the plasma membrane, catalyzed by formin proteins. The acceleration of polymerization depends on the number of profilin-actins binding with the formin-FH1 domain. Biophysical characterization of the disordered formin-FH1 domain remains a challenge. We analyzed the conformational distribution of the diaphanous-related formin mDia1-FH1 bound with one to six profilins. We found a coil-to-elongation transition in the FH1 domain. We propose a cooperative "jack" model for the Formin-Homology-1 (FH1) domain of formins stacked by profilin-actins.6 page(s