New Aspects of the Structure of d-Amino Acid Oxidase from Porcine Kidney in Solution: Molecular Dynamics Simulation and Photoinduced Electron Transfer

Mammalian d-amino acid oxidase (DAAO) plays an important role for d-serine metabolism in the brain and regulation of glutamatergic neurotransmission. In the present work, the structures in solution obtained by the methods of molecular dynamic simulation (MDS) and analyses of photoinduced electron transfer (ET) from aromatic amino acids to the excited isoalloxazine (Iso*) are described based upon our recent works, comparing among DAAO dimer, monomer, DAAO-benzoate (DAOB) complex dimer and monomer. The fluorescence lifetimes of DAAO and DAOB in the time domain of picoseconds and femtoseconds are used for the ET analyses as experimental data. The ET parameters (static dielectric constants near isoalloxazine (Iso), standard free energy gap (SFEG) between the photoproducts and reactants), ET rates, and related physical quantities (solvent reorganization energy, net electrostatic energy between the photoproducts and ionic groups in the proteins), in addition to MDS structures, are used to compare the protein structures. The structure of the DAOB dimer in solution obtained by MDS is substantially different from the crystal structure, and the structures of the two subunits are not equivalent in solution. The ET rates and related physical quantities also differ between the two subunits

Frequency of D222G and Q223R Hemagglutinin Mutants of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza Virus in Japan between 2009 and 2010

BACKGROUND: In April 2009, a novel swine-derived influenza A virus (H1N1pdm) emerged and rapidly spread around the world, including Japan. It has been suggested that the virus can bind to both 2,3- and 2,6-linked sialic acid receptors in infected mammals, in contrast to contemporary seasonal H1N1 viruses, which have a predilection for 2,6-linked sialic acid. METHODS/RESULTS: To elucidate the existence and transmissibility of α2,3 sialic acid-specific viruses in H1N1pdm, amino acid substitutions within viral hemagglutinin molecules were investigated, especially D187E, D222G, and Q223R, which are related to a shift from human to avian receptor specificity. Samples from individuals infected during the first and second waves of the outbreak in Japan were examined using a high-throughput sequencing approach. In May 2009, three specimens from mild cases showed D222G and/or Q223R substitutions in a minor subpopulation of viruses infecting these individuals. However, the substitutions almost disappeared in the samples from five mild cases in December 2010. The D187E substitution was not widespread in specimens, even in May 2009. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that α2,3 sialic acid-specific viruses, including G222 and R223, existed in humans as a minor population in the early phase of the pandemic, and that D222 and Q223 became more dominant through human-to-human transmission during the first and second waves of the epidemic. These results are consistent with the low substitution rates identified in seasonal H1N1 viruses in 2008

Molecular dynamics simulation of energy migration between tryptophan residues in apoflavodoxin

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations over a 30 ns trajectory have been carried out on apoflavodoxin from Azotobacter vinelandii to compare with the published, experimental time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy results of F¨orster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) between the three tryptophan residues. MD analysis of atomic coordinates yielding both the time course of geometric parameters and the time-correlated second-order Legendre polynomial functions reflects immobilization of tryptophans in the protein matrix. However, one tryptophan residue (Trp167) undergoes flip-flop motion on the nanosecond timescale. The simulated time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy of tryptophan residues in apoflavodoxin implying a model of two unidirectional FRET pathways is in very good agreement with the experimental time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy, although the less efficient FRET pathway cannot be resolved and is hidden in the contribution of a slow protein motion

Simultaneous analyses of fluorescence decay and anisotropy decay in green fluorescent protein dimer from jellyfish Clytia gregaria : FRET and molecular dynamics simulation

Structural and dynamic behaviors of the green fluorescent protein dimer from jellyfish Clytia gregaria (cgGFP) were investigated by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Both neutral and ionic forms of the chromophore, p-hydroxybenzylideneimidazolinone (GYS) were considered. The partial atomic charges of the chromophore were derived by BCC and RESP approaches. The structures were compared between the anionic and neutral cgGFP, and between the two subunits (Sub A and Sub B) of the protein dimer. The observed fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decays were further analyzed with theoretical expressions by employing the atomic coordinates of neutral cgGFP obtained by MD simulation. It was assumed that the fluorescence quenching of GYSA and GYSB is ascribed to HB formations between heteroatoms of GYSs and nearby amino acids. Excellent agreement between the observed and calculated intensity decays, and the observed and calculated anisotropy decays were obtained with RESP1 model. The agreements were better in RESP model than those in BCC one. Mean quenching constants of GYSA and GYSB were 0.27 and 0.59 ns−1 overall MD snapshots with RESP1. Mean value of square of direction cosine between the two transition moments of GYSs was 0.74, and that of square of orientation factor was 0.53, and the FRET rates from GYSA to GYSB, and from GYSB to GYSA were 0.87 and 1.87 ns−1

Comparison of the monomer structure of the FMN-binding protein from <i>Desulfovibrio vulgaris</i> obtained by NMR and molecular dynamics simulation approaches

<div><p>Flavin mononucleotide (FMN)-binding proteins (FBPs) play an important role in the electron transport process in bacteria. In this study, the structures of the FBP from <i>Desulfovibrio vulgaris</i> (<i>Dv</i>FBP) (Miyazaki F) were compared between those obtained experimentally by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and those derived from molecular dynamics simulations (MDSs). A high-residue root of mean square deviation (RMSD) was observed in residues located at both sides of the wings (Gly22, Glu23, Asp24, Ala59, Arg60, Asp61, Glu62, Gly75, Arg76, Asn77, Gly78 and Pro79), while a low-residue RMSD was found in residues located in a hollow of the structure (Asn12, Glu13, Gly14, Val15, Val16, Asn30, Thr31, Trp32, Asn33, Ser34, Gly69, Ser70, Arg71 and Lys72). Inter-planar angles between the Phe7 and Iso and between the Phe7 and Trp106 residues were remarkably different between the MDS- and NMR-derived <i>Dv</i>FBP structures. Distribution of the torsion angles around the covalent bonds in the aliphatic chain of FMN was similar in the MDS- and NMR-derived structures, except for those around the C1′–C2′ and C5′–O5′ bonds. Hydrogen bond formation between IsoO2 and the Gly49 or Gly50 peptide NH was formed in both the NMR- and MDS-derived structures. Overall, the MDS-derived structures were found to be considerably different from the NMR-derived structures, which must be considered when the photoinduced electron transfer in flavoproteins is analysed with MDS-derived structures.</p></div