Morteza Khabiri

Engineering enzyme stability and resistance to an organic cosolvent by modification of residues in the access tunnel.

Mutations targeting as few as four residues lining the access tunnel extended enzyme’s half-life in 40% dimethyl sulfoxide from minutes to weeks (4,000-fold) and increased its melting temperature by 19 Grades C. Protein crystallography and molecular dynamics revealed that the tunnel residue packing is a key determinant of protein stability and the active-site accessibility for co-solvent molecules (red dots). The broad applicability of this concept was verified by analyzing twenty six proteins with buried active sites from all six enzyme classes.

Charybdotoxin unbinding from the mKv1.3 potassium channel: a combined computational and experimental study.

Charybdotoxin, belonging to the group of so-called scorpion toxins, is a short peptide able to block many voltage-gated potassium channels, such as mKv1.3, with high affinity. We use a reliable homology model based on the high-resolution crystal structure of the 94% sequence identical homologue Kv1.2 for charybdotoxin docking followed by molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the mechanism and energetics of unbinding, tracing the behavior of the channel protein and charybdotoxin during umbrella-sampling simulations as charybdotoxin is moved away from the binding site. The potential of mean force is constructed from the umbrella sampling simulations and combined with K(d) and free energy values gained experimentally using the patch-clamp technique to study the free energy of binding at different ion concentrations and the mechanism of the charybdotoxin-mKv1.3 binding process. A possible charybdotoxin binding mechanism is deduced that includes an initial hydrophobic contact followed by stepwise electrostatic interactions and finally optimization of hydrogen bonds and salt bridges.

Aggregation of oligoarginines at phospholipid membranes: molecular dynamics simulations, time-dependent fluorescence shift, and biomimetic colorimetric assays.

A time-dependent fluorescence shift method, biomimetic colorimetric assays, and molecular dynamics simulations have been performed in search of explanations why arginine rich peptides with intermediate lengths of about 10 amino acids translocate well through cellular membranes, while analogous lysine rich peptides do not. First, we demonstrate that an important factor for efficient peptide adsorption, as the first prerequisite for translocation across the membrane, is the presence of negatively charged phospholipids in the bilayer. Second, we observe a strong tendency of adsorbed arginine (but not lysine) containing peptides to aggregate at the bilayer surface. We suggest that this aggregation of oligoarginines leads to partial disruption of the bilayer integrity due to the accumulated large positive charge at its surface, which increases membrane-surface interactions due to the increased effective charge of the aggregates. As a result, membrane penetration and translocation of medium length oligoarginines becomes facilitated in comparison to single arginine and very long polyarginines, as well as to lysine containing peptides.

Interaction of organic solvents with protein structures at protein-solvent interface

The effect of non-denaturing concentrations of three different organic solvents, formamide, acetone and isopropanol, on the structure of haloalkane dehalogenases DhaA, LinB, and DbjA at the protein-solvent interface was studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Analysis of B-factors revealed that the presence of a given organic solvent mainly affects the dynamical behavior of the specificity-determining cap domain, with the exception of DbjA in acetone. Orientation of organic solvent molecules on the protein surface during the simulations was clearly dependent on their interaction with hydrophobic or hydrophilic surface patches, and the simulations suggest that the behavior of studied organic solvents in the vicinity of hyrophobic patches on the surface is similar to the air/water interface. DbjA was the only dimeric enzyme among studied haloalkane dehalogenases and provided an opportunity to explore effects of organic solvents on the quaternary structure. Penetration and trapping of organic solvents in the network of interactions between both monomers depends on the physico-chemical properties of the organic solvents. Consequently, both monomers of this enzyme oscillate differently in different organic solvents. With the exception of LinB in acetone, the structures of studied enzymes were stabilized in water-miscible organic solvents.

Charybdotoxin and margatoxin acting on the human voltage-gated potassium channel hKv1.3 and its H399N mutant: an experimental and computational comparison.

The effect of the pore-blocking peptides charybdotoxin and margatoxin, both scorpion toxins, on currents through human voltage-gated hK(v)1.3 wild-type and hK(v)1.3_H399N mutant potassium channels was characterized by the whole-cell patch clamp technique. In the mutant channels, both toxins hardly blocked current through the channels, although they did prevent C-type inactivation by slowing down the current decay during depolarization. Molecular dynamics simulations suggested that the fast current decay in the mutant channel was a consequence of amino acid reorientations behind the selectivity filter and indicated that the rigidity-flexibility in that region played a key role in its interactions with scorpion toxins. A channel with a slightly more flexible selectivity filter region exhibits distinct interactions with scorpion toxins. Our studies suggest that the toxin-channel interactions might partially restore rigidity in the selectivity filter and thereby prevent the structural rearrangements associated with C-type inactivation.

Interdomain communication in the endonuclease/motor subunit of type I restriction-modification enzyme EcoR124I.

Restriction-modification systems protect bacteria from foreign DNA. Type I restriction-modification enzymes are multifunctional heteromeric complexes with DNA-cleavage and ATP-dependent DNA translocation activities located on endonuclease/motor subunit HsdR. The recent structure of the first intact motor subunit of the type I restriction enzyme from plasmid EcoR124I suggested a mechanism by which stalled translocation triggers DNA cleavage via a lysine residue on the endonuclease domain that contacts ATP bound between the two helicase domains. In the present work, molecular dynamics simulations are used to explore this proposal. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the Lys–ATP contact alternates with a contact with a nearby loop housing the conserved QxxxY motif that had been implicated in DNA cleavage. This model is tested here using in vivo and in vitro experiments. The results indicate how local interactions are transduced to domain motions within the endonuclease/motor subunit.

Deficiencies in Molecular Dynamics Simulation-Based Prediction of Protein–DNA Binding Free Energy Landscapes

Transcriptional regulation allows cells to match their gene expression profiles to their current requirements based on environment, cellular physiological state, and extracellular signals. DNA binding transcription factors are major agents of transcriptional regulation, and bind to DNA with a factor-specific sequence preference to exert regulatory effects. A crucial step in unraveling the logic of a regulatory network is determining the sequence-specific binding affinity landscapes for the transcription factors in it. While such landscapes can be measured experimentally, the ability to predict them computationally would both reduce the effort required to obtain the needed data and provide additional insight into the key interactions shaping protein-DNA interactions. Here we apply free energy calculations based on all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to predict the changes in binding free energy for all single base pair perturbations of the binding sites for four eukaryotic transcription factors for which high-quality experimental data exist. We find that the simulated results both vastly overestimate the magnitude of changes in binding free energy, and frequently predict the incorrect signs. These simulations will nevertheless serve as a jumping-off point for refining our current representation of protein-DNA interactions to allow quantitative reproduction of experimental data on such systems in the future.

Scorpion toxins prefer salt solutions.

There is a wide variety of ion channel types with various types of blockers, making research in this field very complicated. To reduce this complexity, it is essential to study ion channels and their blockers independently. Scorpion toxins, a major class of blockers, are charged short peptides with high affinities for potassium channels. Their high selectivity and inhibitory properties make them an important pharmacological tool for treating autoimmune or nervous system disorders. Scorpion toxins typically have highly charged surfaces and—like other proteins—an intrinsic ability to bind ions (Friedman J Phys Chem B 115(29):9213–9223, 1996; Baldwin Biophys J 71(4):2056–2063, 1996; Vrbka et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103(42):15440–15444, 2006a; Vrbka et al. J Phys Chem B 110(13):7036-43, 2006b). Thus, their effects on potassium channels are usually investigated in various ionic solutions. In this work, computer simulations of protein structures were performed to analyze the structural properties of the key residues (i.e., those that are presumably involved in contact with the surfaces of the ion channels) of 12 scorpion toxins. The presence of the two most physiologically abundant cations, Na+ and K+, was considered. The results indicated that the ion-binding properties of the toxin residues vary. Overall, all of the investigated toxins had more stable structures in ionic solutions than in water. We found that both the number and length of elements in the secondary structure varied depending on the ionic solution used (i.e., in the presence of NaCl or KCl). This study revealed that the ionic solution should be chosen carefully before performing experiments on these toxins. Similarly, the influence of these ions should be taken into consideration in the design of toxin-based pharmaceuticals.

Expression of Concern for “Deficiencies in Molecular Dynamics Simulation-Based Prediction of Protein–DNA Binding Free Energy Landscapes”

J. Phys. Chem. B 2017, 121 (20), 5151−5161, DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b12450 A of May 18, 2018, the authors issue an Expression of Concern to advise readers of potential discrepancies between the results reported in this article and a recent, more successful, report of similar calculations (Gapsys and de Groot, JCTC 13:6275−6289 [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00849]). Based on the more recent publication, the authors now believe that technical shortcomings in the published calculations may underlie the poor agreements that were obtained between computed and experimental binding free energy profiles. The authors are in the process of investigating the likely sources of error, and the status of this article will be updated following the outcome of that investigation. Expression of Concern

In silico characterization of the motor subunit of the e.coli. restriction-modification system EcoR1241

Type1 restriction modification system are intriguing multifunctional multisubunit molecular motors that can catalyze both restriction and modification activity. The type 1 RM enzymes binds to its target sequence and its activity as an endonuclease or methyltransferase is determined by the methylation state of the target sequence. If the target sequence is unmodified, the enzyme while bound to its target site is believed to translocate or pull the DNA towards itself simultaneously in both directions in an ATP dependent manner. The crystal structure of the motor subunit R has been determined by our group but the molecular mechanism by which these enzymes translocate and cleave the DNA is not fully understood. Our current research effort focuses on full-length three-dimensional structures of the R-subunit, utilizing computational and bioinformatics methods. Modelling of missing loops of residues of the crystal structure is done by Modeller9v2. Optimization of intersubunit contacts is performed by energy minimization followed by molecular dynamics simulations in solution at 300K. The dynamic behavior of WT and mutant holo and apo systems is explored by molecular dynamics simulation in GROMACS using the AMBER99SB force field. Conformational changes connected to coupling of translocation and endonuclease activity are observed and QM/MM methods are applied to calculate the contribution of the residue to the overall binding energy of ATP in the binding pocket.