An In-Depth Look at DNA Crystals through the Prism of Molecular Dynamics Simulations

X-ray crystallography is the primary tool for biomolecular structural determination. However, contacts formed through the crystal lattice are known to affect structures, especially for small and flexible molecules such as DNA oligomers, by introducing significant structural changes in comparison to solution. Furthermore, why molecules crystallize in certain symmetry groups, which role crystallization additives play, and whether they are just innocuous and unspecific crystallization catalysts remain unclear. By using one of the currently best-performing DNA force fields and applying significant computational effort, we described the nature of intermolecular forces that stabilize B-DNA crystals in various symmetry groups and solvent environments with an unprecedented level of detail. We showed a tight coupling between the lattice stability and the type of crystallization additives and that certain symmetry groups are stable only in the presence of a specific additive. Additives and crystal contacts induce small but non-negligible changes in the physical properties of DNA

Allosterism and signal transfer in DNA

We analysed the basic mechanisms of signal transmission in DNA and the origins of the allostery exhibited by systems such as the ternary complex BAMHI-DNA-GRDBD. We found that perturbation information generated by a primary protein binding event travels as a wave to distant regions of DNA following a hopping mechanism. However, such a structural perturbation is transient and does not lead to permanent changes in the DNA geometry and interaction properties at the secondary binding site. The BAMHI-DNA-GRDBD allosteric mechanism does not occur through any traditional models: direct (protein-protein), indirect (reorganization of the secondary site) readout or solvent-release. On the contrary, it is generated by a subtle and less common entropy-mediated mechanism, which might have an important role to explain other DNA-mediated cooperative effects

The structural impact of DNA mismatches

© 2015 © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research. The structure and dynamics of all the transversion and transition mismatches in three different DNA environments have been characterized by molecular dynamics simulations and NMR spectroscopy. We found that the presence of mismatches produced significant local structural alterations, especially in the case of purine transversions. Mismatched pairs often show promiscuous hydrogen bonding patterns, which interchange among each other in the nanosecond time scale. This therefore defines flexible base pairs, where breathing is frequent, and where distortions in helical parameters are strong, resulting in significant alterations in groove dimension. Even if the DNA structure is plastic enough to absorb the structural impact of the mismatch, local structural changes can be propagated far from the mismatch site, following the expected through-backbone and a previously unknown through-space mechanism. The structural changes related to the presence of mismatches help to understand the different susceptibility of mismatches to the action of repairing proteins.Peer Reviewe

Uncertainty characterization & validation within ESA Fire-CCI

Uncertainty characterisation and validation are critical phases to generate any Essential Climate Variable (ECV), and therefore both have been included as key deliverables of the ESA CCI programme [1]. All products generated by the CCI are required to have an associated per pixel uncertainty characterisation. This paper describes both the uncertainty characterisation framework and the related uncertainty validation exercise of the Fire-CCI projectinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Use of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs That Elevate Cardiovascular Risk: An Examination of Sales and Essential Medicines Lists in Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries

PMCID: PMC3570554This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Compartmentalization of integrin α6β4 signaling in lipid rafts

Integrin α6β4 signaling proceeds through Src family kinase (SFK)–mediated phosphorylation of the cytoplasmic tail of β4, recruitment of Shc, and activation of Ras and phosphoinositide-3 kinase. Upon cessation of signaling, α6β4 mediates assembly of hemidesmosomes. Here, we report that part of α6β4 is incorporated in lipid rafts. Metabolic labeling in combination with mutagenesis indicates that one or more cysteine in the membrane-proximal segment of β4 tail is palmitoylated. Mutation of these cysteines suppresses incorporation of α6β4 in lipid rafts, but does not affect α6β4-mediated adhesion or assembly of hemidesmosomes. The fraction of α6β4 localized to rafts associates with a palmitoylated SFK, whereas the remainder does not. Ligation of palmitoylation-defective α6β4 does not activate SFK signaling to extracellular signal–regulated kinase and fails to promote keratinocyte proliferation in response to EGF. Thus, compartmentalization in lipid rafts is necessary to couple the α6β4 integrin to a palmitoylated SFK and promote EGF-dependent mitogenesis

Multiscale simulation of DNA

DNA is not only among the most important molecules in life, but a meeting point for biology, physics and chemistry, being studied by numerous techniques. Theoretical methods can help in gaining a detailed understanding of DNA structure and function, but their practical use is hampered by the multiscale nature of this molecule. In this regard, the study of DNA covers a broad range of different topics, from sub-Angstrom details of the electronic distributions of nucleobases, to the mechanical properties of millimeter-long chromatin fibers. Some of the biological processes involving DNA occur in femtoseconds, while others require years. In this review, we describe the most recent theoretical methods that have been considered to study DNA, from the electron to the chromosome, enriching our knowledge on this fascinating molecule

Molecular basis or arginine and lysine DNA sequence-dependent thermo-stability modulation

We have used a variety of theoretical and experimental techniques to study the role of four basic amino acids-Arginine, Lysine, Ornithine and L-2,4-Diaminobutyric acid-on the structure, flexibility and sequence-dependent stability of DNA. We found that the presence of organic ions stabilizes the duplexes and significantly reduces the difference in stability between AT- and GC-rich duplexes with respect to the control conditions. This suggests that these amino acids, ingredients of the primordial soup during abiogenesis, could have helped to equalize the stability of AT- and GC-rich DNA oligomers, facilitating a general noncatalysed self-replication of DNA. Experiments and simulations demonstrate that organic ions have an effect that goes beyond the general electrostatic screening, involving specific interactions along the grooves of the double helix. We conclude that organic ions, largely ignored in the DNA world, should be reconsidered as crucial structural elements far from mimics of small inorganic cations

How B-DNA dynamics decipher sequence-selective protein recognition

The rules governing sequence-specific DNA-protein recognition are under a long-standing debate regarding the prevalence of base versus shape readout mechanisms to explain sequence specificity and of the conformational selection versus induced fit binding paradigms to explain binding-related conformational changes in DNA. Using a combination of atomistic simulations on a subset of representative sequences and mesoscopic simulations at the protein-DNA interactome level, we demonstrate the prevalence of the shape readout model in determining sequence-specificity and of the conformational selection paradigm in defining the general mechanism for binding-related conformational changes in DNA. Our results suggest that the DNA uses a double mechanism to adapt its structure to the protein: it moves along the easiest deformation modes to approach the bioactive conformation, while final adjustments require localized rearrangements at the base-pair step and backbone level. Our study highlights the large impact of B-DNA dynamics in modulating DNA-protein binding