scholarly journals From green to blue: Site-directed mutagenesis of the green fluorescent protein to teach protein structure-function relationships

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 309-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
María D. Girón ◽  
Rafael Salto
Keyword(s):  
Green Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Protein Structure ◽  
Structure Function ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Green Fluorescent

scholarly journals Single-Molecule Imaging and Computational Microscopy Approaches Clarify the Mechanism of the Dimerization and Membrane Interactions of Green Fluorescent Protein

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohua Wang ◽  
Kai Song ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Ling Tang ◽  
Xin Deng
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Green Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Hydrophobic Interactions ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Single Amino Acid ◽  
Single Mutation ◽  
Functional Protein ◽  
Green Fluorescent

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) is widely used as a biomarker in living systems; however, GFP and its variants are prone to forming low-affinity dimers under physiological conditions. This undesirable tendency is exacerbated when fluorescent proteins (FP) are confined to membranes, fused to naturally-oligomeric proteins, or expressed at high levels in cells. Oligomerization of FPs introduces artifacts into the measurement of subunit stoichiometry, as well as interactions between proteins fused to FPs. Introduction of a single mutation, A206K, has been shown to disrupt hydrophobic interactions in the region responsible for GFP dimerization, thereby contributing to its monomerization. Nevertheless, a detailed understanding of how this single amino acid-dependent inhibition of dimerization in GFP occurs at the atomic level is still lacking. Single-molecule experiments combined with computational microscopy (atomistic molecular dynamics) revealed that the amino group of A206 contributes to GFP dimer formation via a multivalent electrostatic interaction. We further showed that myristoyl modification is an efficient mechanism to promote membrane attachment of GFP. Molecular dynamics-based site-directed mutagenesis has been used to identify the key functional residues in FPs. The data presented here have been utilized as a monomeric control in downstream single-molecule studies, facilitating more accurate stoichiometry quantification of functional protein complexes in living cells.

scholarly journals Oligomerization of green fluorescent protein in the secretory pathway of endocrine cells

2001 ◽  
Vol 360 (3) ◽  
pp. 645-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renu K. JAIN ◽  
Paul B. M. JOYCE ◽  
Miguel MOLINETE ◽  
Philippe A. HALBAN ◽  
Sven-Ulrik GORR
Keyword(s):  
Green Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Endocrine Cells ◽  
Secretory Pathway ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Secretory Granules ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Cysteine Residues ◽  
Reporter Protein ◽  
Regulated Secretory Pathway ◽  
Green Fluorescent

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) is used extensively as a reporter protein to monitor cellular processes, including intracellular protein trafficking and secretion. In general, this approach depends on GFP acting as a passive reporter protein. However, it was recently noted that GFP oligomerizes in the secretory pathway of endocrine cells. To characterize this oligomerization and its potential role in GFP transport, cytosolic and secretory forms of enhanced GFP (EGFP) were expressed in GH4C1 and AtT-20 endocrine cells. Biochemical analysis showed that cytosolic EGFP existed as a 27kDa monomer, whereas secretory forms of EGFP formed disulphide-linked oligomers. EGFP contains two cysteine residues (Cys49 and Cys71), which could play a role in this oligomerization. Site-directed mutagenesis of Cys49 and Cys71 showed that both cysteine residues were involved in disulphide interactions. Substitution of either cysteine residue resulted in a reduction or loss of oligomers, although dimers of the secretory form of EGFP remained. Mutation of these residues did not adversely affect the fluorescence of EGFP. EGFP oligomers were stored in secretory granules and secreted by the regulated secretory pathway in endocrine AtT-20 cells. Similarly, the dimeric mutant forms of EGFP were still secreted via the regulated secretory pathway, indicating that the higher-order oligomers were not necessary for sorting in AtT-20 cells. These results suggest that the oligomerization of EGFP must be considered when the protein is used as a reporter molecule in the secretory pathway.

scholarly journals Computational prediction of the tolerance to amino-acid deletion in green-fluorescent protein

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleisha L. Jackson ◽  
Stephanie J. Spielman ◽  
Claus O. Wilke
Keyword(s):  
Green Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Protein Structure ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Protein Design ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Computational Prediction ◽  
Single Amino Acid ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Amino Acid Deletion ◽  
Green Fluorescent

AbstractProteins evolve through two primary mechanisms: substitution, where mutations alter a protein’s amino-acid sequence, and insertions and deletions (indels), where amino acids are either added to or removed from the sequence. Protein structure has been shown to influence the rate at which substitutions accumulate across sites in proteins, but whether structure similarly constrains the occurrence of indels has not been rigorously studied. Here, we investigate the extent to which structural properties known to covary with protein evolutionary rates might also predict protein tolerance to indels. Specifically, we analyze a publicly available dataset of single–amino-acid deletion mutations in enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) to assess how well the functional effect of deletions can be predicted from protein structure. We find that weighted contact number (WCN), which measures how densely packed a residue is within the protein’s three-dimensional structure, provides the best single predictor for whether eGFP will tolerate a given deletion. We additionally find that using protein design to explicitly model deletions results in improved predictions of functional status when combined with other structural predictors. Our work suggests that structure plays fundamental role in constraining deletions at sites in proteins, and further that similar biophysical constraints influence both substitutions and deletions. This study therefore provides a solid foundation for future work to examine how protein structure influences tolerance of more complex indel events, such as insertions or large deletions.

scholarly journals Crystal structures of green fluorescent protein with the unnatural amino acid 4-nitro-L-phenylalanine

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (10) ◽  
pp. 650-655
Author(s):  
Nicole Maurici ◽  
Nicole Savidge ◽  
Byung Uk Lee ◽  
Scott H. Brewer ◽  
Christine M. Phillips-Piro
Keyword(s):  
Green Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Protein Structure ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Crystal Structures ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Unnatural Amino Acid ◽  
Asymmetric Unit ◽  
Space Group ◽  
Green Fluorescent ◽  
Amber Codon Suppression

The X-ray crystal structures of two superfolder green fluorescent protein (sfGFP) constructs containing a genetically incorporated spectroscopic reporter unnatural amino acid, 4-nitro-L-phenylalanine (pNO2F), at two unique sites in the protein have been determined. Amber codon-suppression methodology was used to site-specifically incorporate pNO2F at a solvent-accessible (Asp133) and a partially buried (Asn149) site in sfGFP. The Asp133pNO2F sfGFP construct crystallized with two molecules per asymmetric unit in space group P3221 and the crystal structure was refined to 2.05 Å resolution. Crystals of Asn149pNO2F sfGFP contained one molecule of sfGFP per asymmetric unit in space group P4122 and the structure was refined to 1.60 Å resolution. The alignment of Asp133pNO2F or Asn149pNO2F sfGFP with wild-type sfGFP resulted in small root-mean-square deviations, illustrating that these residues do not significantly alter the protein structure and supporting the use of pNO2F as an effective spectroscopic reporter of local protein structure and dynamics.

scholarly journals Development of a Functional Antibody by Using a Green Fluorescent Protein Frame as the Template

2014 ◽  
Vol 80 (14) ◽  
pp. 4126-4137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongzhi Wang ◽  
Shuangshuang Xiang ◽  
Yonghui Zhang ◽  
Qiuyu Chen ◽  
Yanfang Zhong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Green Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Specific Antigen ◽  
Disease Diagnosis ◽  
Binding Activity ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Single Chain ◽  
High Affinity ◽  
Green Fluorescent ◽  
Complementarity Determining Region

ABSTRACTSingle-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibodies are widely used as diagnostic and therapeutic agents or biosensors for a majority of human disease. However, the limitations of the present scFv antibody in terms of stability, solubility, and affinity are challenging to produce by traditional antibody screening and expression formats. We describe here a feasible strategy for creating the green fluorescent protein (GFP)-based antibody. Complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3), which retains the antigen binding activity, was introduced into the structural loops of superfolder GFP, and the result showed that CDR3-inserted GFP displayed almost the same fluorescence intensity as wild-type GFP, and the purified proteins of CDR3 insertion showed the similar binding activity to antigen as the corresponding scFv. Among of all of the CDRs, CDR3s are responsible for antigen recognition, and only the CDR3a insertion is the best format for producing GFP-based antibody binding to specific antigen. The wide versatility of this system was further verified by introducing CDR3 from other scFvs into loop 9 of GFP. We developed a feasible method for rapidly and effectively producing a high-affinity GFP-based antibody by inserting CDR3s into GFP loops. Further, the affinity can be enhanced by specific amino acids scanning and site-directed mutagenesis. Notably, this method had better versatility for creating antibodies to various antigens using GFP as the scaffold, suggesting that a GFP-based antibody with high affinity and specificity may be useful for disease diagnosis and therapy.

scholarly journals Fusion of a Novel Genetically Engineered Chitosan Affinity Protein and Green Fluorescent Protein for Specific Detection of ChitosanIn VitroandIn Situ

2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (9) ◽  
pp. 3114-3119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malathi Nampally ◽  
Bruno Maria Moerschbacher ◽  
Stephan Kolkenbrock
Keyword(s):  
Green Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Rust Fungus ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Wheat Stem Rust ◽  
Fungal Cell ◽  
Infection Structures ◽  
Green Fluorescent

ABSTRACTChitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide, present, e.g., in insect and arthropod exoskeletons and fungal cell walls. In some species or under specific conditions, chitin appears to be enzymatically de-N-acetylated to chitosan—e.g., when pathogenic fungi invade their host tissues. Here, the deacetylation of chitin is assumed to represent a pathogenicity mechanism protecting the fungus from the host's chitin-driven immune response. While highly specific chitin binding lectins are well known and easily available, this is not the case for chitosan-specific probes. This is partly due to the poor antigenicity of chitosan so that producing high-affinity, specific antibodies is difficult. Also, lectins with specificity to chitosan have been described but are not commercially available, and our attempts to reproduce the findings were not successful. We have, therefore, generated a fusion protein between a chitosanase inactivated by site-directed mutagenesis, the green fluorescent protein (GFP), and StrepII, as well as His6tags for purification and detection. The recombinant chitosan affinity protein (CAP) expressed inEscherichia coliwas shown to specifically bind to chitosan, but not to chitin, and the affinity increased with decreasing degree of acetylation.In vitro, CAP detection was possible either based on GFP fluorescence or using Strep-Tactin conjugates or anti-His5antibodies. CAP fluorescence microscopy revealed binding to the chitosan exposing endophytic infection structures of the wheat stem rust fungus, but not the chitin exposing ectophytic infection structures, verifying its suitability forin situchitosan staining.

scholarly journals Mechanism of Color and Photoacidity Tuning for the Protonated Green Fluorescent Protein Chromophore

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi-Yun Lin ◽  
Steven Boxer
Keyword(s):  
Green Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Stokes Shift ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Color Tuning ◽  
Tuning Mechanism ◽  
Donor Acceptor ◽  
Form Model ◽  
Gfp Chromophore ◽  
Green Fluorescent

The neutral or A state of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) chromophore is a remarkable example of a photoacid naturally embedded in the protein environment and accounts for the large Stokes shift of GFP in response to near UV excitation. Its color tuning mechanism has been largely overlooked, as it is less preferable for imaging applications than the redder anionic or B state. Past studies, based on site-directed mutagenesis or solvatochromism of the isolated chromophore, have concluded that its color tuning range is much narrower than its anionic counterpart. However, as we performed extensive investigation on more GFP mutants, we found the color of the neutral chromophore to be much more sensitive to protein electrostatics. Electronic Stark spectroscopy reveals a fundamentally different electrostatic color tuning mechanism for the neutral state of the chromophore that demands a three-form model compared with that of the anionic state, which requires only two forms. Specifically, an underlying zwitterionic charge transfer state is required to explain its sensitivity to electrostatics. As the Stokes shift is tightly linked to the protonated chromophore’s photoacidity and excited-state proton transfer (ESPT), we infer design principles of the GFP chromophore as a photoacid through the color tuning mechanisms of both protonation states. The three-form model could also be applied to similar biological and nonbiological dyes and complements the failure of two-form model for donor–acceptor systems with localized electronic distributions.

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