Effect of Oxidation and Mutation on the Conformational Dynamics and Fibril Assembly of Amyloidogenic Peptides Derived from Apolipoprotein C-II

2009 ◽  
Vol 113 (42) ◽  
pp. 14006-14014 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. S. Legge ◽  
K. J. Binger ◽  
M. D. W. Griffin ◽  
G. J. Howlett ◽  
D. Scanlon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Apolipoprotein C ◽  
Amyloidogenic Peptides

scholarly journals The Enigma of Amyloid Forming Proteins: Insights From Molecular Simulations

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nevena Todorova ◽  
Irene Yarovsky
Keyword(s):  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Amyloid Β ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Theoretical Modelling ◽  
Apolipoprotein C ◽  
Amyloidogenic Peptides ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Aggregation Phenomena

Molecular level insight into the interplay between protein sequence, structure, and conformational dynamics is crucial for the comprehensive understanding of protein folding, misfolding, and aggregation phenomena that are pertinent to the formation of amyloid fibrils implicated in several degenerative diseases. Computational modelling provides insight into protein behaviour at spatial and temporal resolution still largely outside the reach of experiments. Herein we present an account of our theoretical modelling research conducted in collaboration with several experimental groups where we explored the effects of local environment on the structure and aggregation propensity of several types of amyloidogenic peptides and proteins, including apolipoprotein C-II, insulin, amylin, and amyloid-β using a variety of computational approaches.

Constant pH Molecular Dynamics Reveals How Proton Release Drives the Conformational Transition of a Transmembrane Efflux Pump

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Shen ◽  
Zhi Yue ◽  
Helen Zgurskaya ◽  
Wei Chen
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Transmembrane Domain ◽  
Conformational Transition ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Proton Release ◽  
Intrinsic Resistance ◽  
Constant Ph ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Constant Ph Molecular Dynamics

AcrB is the inner-membrane transporter of E. coli AcrAB-TolC tripartite efflux complex, which plays a major role in the intrinsic resistance to clinically important antibiotics. AcrB pumps a wide range of toxic substrates by utilizing the proton gradient between periplasm and cytoplasm. Crystal structures of AcrB revealed three distinct conformational states of the transport cycle, substrate access, binding and extrusion, or loose (L), tight (T) and open (O) states. However, the specific residue(s) responsible for proton binding/release and the mechanism of proton-coupled conformational cycling remain controversial. Here we use the newly developed membrane hybrid-solvent continuous constant pH molecular dynamics technique to explore the protonation states and conformational dynamics of the transmembrane domain of AcrB. Simulations show that both Asp407 and Asp408 are deprotonated in the L/T states, while only Asp408 is protonated in the O state. Remarkably, release of a proton from Asp408 in the O state results in large conformational changes, such as the lateral and vertical movement of transmembrane helices as well as the salt-bridge formation between Asp408 and Lys940 and other sidechain rearrangements among essential residues.Consistent with the crystallographic differences between the O and L protomers, simulations offer dynamic details of how proton release drives the O-to-L transition in AcrB and address the controversy regarding the proton/drug stoichiometry. This work offers a significant step towards characterizing the complete cycle of proton-coupled drug transport in AcrB and further validates the membrane hybrid-solvent CpHMD technique for studies of proton-coupled transmembrane proteins which are currently poorly understood. <p><br></p>

Molecular Basis of Glucose Transport Mechanism in Plants

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Balaji Selvam ◽  
Ya-Chi Yu ◽  
Liqing Chen ◽  
Diwakar Shukla
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Free Energy ◽  
Molecular Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Transport Mechanism ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Free Energy Barrier ◽  
Transport Cycle ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

<p>The SWEET family belongs to a class of transporters in plants that undergoes large conformational changes to facilitate transport of sugar molecules across the cell membrane. However, the structures of their functionally relevant conformational states in the transport cycle have not been reported. In this study, we have characterized the conformational dynamics and complete transport cycle of glucose in OsSWEET2b transporter using extensive molecular dynamics simulations. Using Markov state models, we estimated the free energy barrier associated with different states as well as 1 for the glucose the transport mechanism. SWEETs undergoes structural transition to outward-facing (OF), Occluded (OC) and inward-facing (IF) and strongly support alternate access transport mechanism. The glucose diffuses freely from outside to inside the cell without causing major conformational changes which means that the conformations of glucose unbound and bound snapshots are exactly same for OF, OC and IF states. We identified a network of hydrophobic core residues at the center of the transporter that restricts the glucose entry to the cytoplasmic side and act as an intracellular hydrophobic gate. The mechanistic predictions from molecular dynamics simulations are validated using site-directed mutagenesis experiments. Our simulation also revealed hourglass like intermediate states making the pore radius narrower at the center. This work provides new fundamental insights into how substrate-transporter interactions actively change the free energy landscape of the transport cycle to facilitate enhanced transport activity.</p>

Lecithin:Cholesterol Aeyltransferase Activation and Lipid Binding by Synthetic Fragments of Apolipoprotein C-I

1978 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 53-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. K. Soutar ◽  
G. F. Sigler ◽  
L. C. Smith ◽  
A. M. Gotto ◽  
J. T. Sparrow
Keyword(s):  
Lipid Binding ◽  
Apolipoprotein C

Monitoring the Structural Dynamics of U2 snRNA Via Single-Molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Carl DeHaven
Keyword(s):  
Energy Transfer ◽  
Structural Dynamics ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
Resonance Energy ◽  
Förster Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
U2 Snrna ◽  
Folding Dynamics ◽  
The Impact

This thesis contains four topic areas: a review of single-molecule microscropy methods and splicing, conformational dynamics of stem II of the U2 snRNA, the impact of post-transcriptional modifications on U2 snRNA folding dynamics, and preliminary findings on Mango aptamer folding dynamics.

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