scholarly journals ConoMode, a database for conopeptide binding modes

Database ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Li ◽  
Hao Liu ◽  
Chunxiao Gao ◽  
Yangyang Li ◽  
Dongning Jia ◽  
...  

Abstract ConoMode is a database for complex three-dimensional (3D) structures of conopeptides binding with their target proteins. Conopeptides, a large family of peptides from the venom of marine snails of the Conus genus, have exceptionally diverse sequences, and their high specificity to block ion channels makes them crucial as drug leads and tools for physiological studies. ConoMode is a specialized archive for the collection of 3D coordinate data for the conopeptides and their binding target proteins from published literature and the Protein Data Bank. These 3D structures can be determined using experimental methods such as X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy and computational methods including docking, homology modeling and molecular dynamics simulations. The binding modes for the conopeptides determined using computational modeling must be validated based on experimental data. The 3D coordinate data from ConoMode can be searched, visualized, downloaded and uploaded. Currently, ConoMode manages 19 conopeptide sequences (from 10 Conus species), 15 protein sequences and 37 3D structures. ConoMode utilizes a modern technical framework to provide a good user experience on mobile devices with touch interaction features. Furthermore, the database is fully optimized for unstructured data and flexible data models. Database URL: http://conomode.qnlm.ac/conomode/conomode/index

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 4769
Author(s):  
Pablo Maturana ◽  
María S. Orellana ◽  
Sixto M. Herrera ◽  
Ignacio Martínez ◽  
Maximiliano Figueroa ◽  
...  

Agmatine is the product of the decarboxylation of L-arginine by the enzyme arginine decarboxylase. This amine has been attributed to neurotransmitter functions, anticonvulsant, anti-neurotoxic, and antidepressant in mammals and is a potential therapeutic agent for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and cancer. Agmatinase enzyme hydrolyze agmatine into urea and putrescine, which belong to one of the pathways producing polyamines, essential for cell proliferation. Agmatinase from Escherichia coli (EcAGM) has been widely studied and kinetically characterized, described as highly specific for agmatine. In this study, we analyze the amino acids involved in the high specificity of EcAGM, performing a series of mutations in two loops critical to the active-site entrance. Two structures in different space groups were solved by X-ray crystallography, one at low resolution (3.2 Å), including a guanidine group; and other at high resolution (1.8 Å) which presents urea and agmatine in the active site. These structures made it possible to understand the interface interactions between subunits that allow the hexameric state and postulate a catalytic mechanism according to the Mn2+ and urea/guanidine binding site. Molecular dynamics simulations evaluated the conformational dynamics of EcAGM and residues participating in non-binding interactions. Simulations showed the high dynamics of loops of the active site entrance and evidenced the relevance of Trp68, located in the adjacent subunit, to stabilize the amino group of agmatine by cation-pi interaction. These results allow to have a structural view of the best-kinetic characterized agmatinase in literature up to now.


2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 1422-1426
Author(s):  
Rajendran Santhosh ◽  
Namrata Bankoti ◽  
Adgonda Malgonnavar Padmashri ◽  
Daliah Michael ◽  
Jeyaraman Jeyakanthan ◽  
...  

Missing regions in protein crystal structures are those regions that cannot be resolved, mainly owing to poor electron density (if the three-dimensional structure was solved using X-ray crystallography). These missing regions are known to have high B factors and could represent loops with a possibility of being part of an active site of the protein molecule. Thus, they are likely to provide valuable information and play a crucial role in the design of inhibitors and drugs and in protein structure analysis. In view of this, an online database, Missing Regions in Polypeptide Chains (MRPC), has been developed which provides information about the missing regions in protein structures available in the Protein Data Bank. In addition, the new database has an option for users to obtain the above data for non-homologous protein structures (25 and 90%). A user-friendly graphical interface with various options has been incorporated, with a provision to view the three-dimensional structure of the protein along with the missing regions using JSmol. The MRPC database is updated regularly (currently once every three months) and can be accessed freely at the URL http://cluster.physics.iisc.ac.in/mrpc.


2020 ◽  
Vol 167 (4) ◽  
pp. 343-345
Author(s):  
Koki Makabe

Abstract Antibodies can recognize various types of antigens with high specificity and affinity and peptide is one of their major targets. Understanding an antibody’s molecular recognition mechanism for peptide is important for developing clones with a higher specificity and affinity. Here, the author reviews recent progresses in flexible peptide recognition by an antibody using several biophysical techniques, including X-ray crystallography, molecular dynamics simulations and calorimetric measurements. A set of two reports highlight the importance of intramolecular hydrogen bonds that form in an unbound flexible state. Such intramolecular hydrogen bonds restrict the fluctuation of the peptide and reduce the conformational entropy, resulting in the destabilization of the unbound state and increasing the binding affinity by increasing the free energy change. These detailed analyses will aid in the antibody design in the future.


2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (10) ◽  
pp. 929-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun-Chul Kim ◽  
Ja-Min Gu ◽  
Seong Huh ◽  
Chul-Hyun Yo ◽  
Youngmee Kim

Two new one-dimensional CuIIcoordination polymers (CPs) containing theC2h-symmetric terphenyl-based dicarboxylate linker 1,1′:4′,1′′-terphenyl-3,3′-dicarboxylate (3,3′-TPDC), namelycatena-poly[[bis(dimethylamine-κN)copper(II)]-μ-1,1′:4′,1′′-terphenyl-3,3′-dicarboxylato-κ4O,O′:O′′:O′′′] monohydrate], {[Cu(C20H12O4)(C2H7N)2]·H2O}n, (I), andcatena-poly[[aquabis(dimethylamine-κN)copper(II)]-μ-1,1′:4′,1′′-terphenyl-3,3′-dicarboxylato-κ2O3:O3′] monohydrate], {[Cu(C20H12O4)(C2H7N)2(H2O)]·H2O}n, (II), were both obtained from two different methods of preparation: one reaction was performed in the presence of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) as a potential pillar ligand and the other was carried out in the absence of the DABCO pillar. Both reactions afforded crystals of different colours,i.e.violet plates for (I) and blue needles for (II), both of which were analysed by X-ray crystallography. The 3,3′-TPDC bridging ligands coordinate the CuIIions in asymmetric chelating modes in (I) and in monodenate binding modes in (II), forming one-dimensional chains in each case. Both coordination polymers contain two coordinated dimethylamine ligands in mutuallytranspositions, and there is an additional aqua ligand in (II). The solvent water molecules are involved in hydrogen bonds between the one-dimensional coordination polymer chains, forming a two-dimensional network in (I) and a three-dimensional network in (II).


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinsai Shang ◽  
Richard Brust ◽  
Sarah A. Mosure ◽  
Jared Bass ◽  
Paola Munoz-Tello ◽  
...  

Crystal structures of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) have revealed overlapping binding modes for synthetic and natural/endogenous ligands, indicating competition for the orthosteric pocket. Here we show that cobinding of a synthetic ligand to the orthosteric pocket can push natural and endogenous PPARγ ligands (fatty acids) out of the orthosteric pocket towards an alternate ligand-binding site near the functionally important omega (Ω) loop. X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, and mutagenesis coupled to quantitative functional assays reveal that synthetic ligand and fatty acid cobinding can form a “ligand link” to the Ω loop and synergistically affect the structure and function of PPARγ. These findings contribute to a growing body of evidence indicating ligand binding to nuclear receptors can be more complex than the classical one-for-one orthosteric exchange of a natural or endogenous ligand with a synthetic ligand.


Author(s):  
Andrés Manuel Vera ◽  
Albert Galera-Prat ◽  
Michał Wojciechowski ◽  
Bartosz Różycki ◽  
Douglas Vinson Laurents ◽  
...  

AbstractCellulose is the most abundant organic molecule on Earth and represents a renewable and practically everlasting feedstock for the production of biofuels and chemicals. Self-assembled owing to the high-affinity cohesin-dockerin interaction, cellulosomes are huge multi-enzyme complexes with unmatched efficiency in the degradation of recalcitrant lignocellulosic substrates. The recruitment of diverse dockerin-borne enzymes into a multicohesin protein scaffold dictates the three-dimensional layout of the complex, and interestingly two alternative binding modes have been proposed. Using single-molecule Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer, molecular dynamics simulations and NMR measurements on a range of cohesin-dockerin pairs, we directly detect varying distributions between these binding modes that follow a built-in cohesin-dockerin code. Surprisingly, we uncover a prolyl isomerase-modulated allosteric control mechanism, mediated by the isomerization state of a single proline residue, which regulates the distribution and kinetics of binding modes. Overall, our data provide a novel mechanistic understanding of the structural plasticity and dynamics of cellulosomes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver S. Smart ◽  
Vladimír Horský ◽  
Swanand Gore ◽  
Radka Svobodová Vařeková ◽  
Veronika Bendová ◽  
...  

Realising the importance of assessing the quality of the biomolecular structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB) partners established Validation Task Forces to obtain advice on the methods and standards to be used to validate structures determined by X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and three-dimensional electron cryo-microscopy. The resulting wwPDB validation pipeline is an integral part of the wwPDB OneDep deposition, biocuration and validation system. The wwPDB Validation Service webserver (https://validate.wwpdb.org) can be used to perform checks prior to deposition. Here, it is shown how validation metrics can be combined to produce an overall score that allows the ranking of macromolecular structures and domains in search results. The ValTrendsDBdatabase provides users with a convenient way to access and analyse validation information and other properties of X-ray crystal structures in the PDB, including investigating trends in and correlations between different structure properties and validation metrics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shota Ono

AbstractSome of the three-dimensional (3D) crystal structures are constructed by stacking two-dimensional (2D) layers. To study whether this geometric concept, i.e., using 2D layers as building blocks for 3D structures, can be applied to computational materials design, we theoretically investigate the dynamical stability of copper-based compounds CuX (a metallic element X) in the B$$_h$$ h and L1$$_1$$ 1 structures constructed from the buckled honeycomb (BHC) structure and in the B2 and L1$$_0$$ 0 structures constructed from the buckled square (BSQ) structure. We demonstrate that (i) if CuX in the BHC structure is dynamically stable, those in the B$$_h$$ h and L1$$_1$$ 1 structures are also stable. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we particularly show that CuAu in the B$$_h$$ h and L1$$_1$$ 1 structures withstand temperatures as high as 1000 K. Although the interrelationship of the metastability between the BSQ and the 3D structures (B2 and L1$$_0$$ 0 ) is not clear, we find that (ii) if CuX in the B2 (L1$$_0$$ 0 ) structure is dynamically stable, that in the L1$$_0$$ 0 (B2) is unstable. This is rationalized by the tetragonal Bain path calculations.


eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinsai Shang ◽  
Richard Brust ◽  
Sarah A Mosure ◽  
Jared Bass ◽  
Paola Munoz-Tello ◽  
...  

Crystal structures of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) have revealed overlapping binding modes for synthetic and natural/endogenous ligands, indicating competition for the orthosteric pocket. Here we show that cobinding of a synthetic ligand to the orthosteric pocket can push natural and endogenous PPARγ ligands (fatty acids) out of the orthosteric pocket towards an alternate ligand-binding site near the functionally important omega (Ω)-loop. X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, and mutagenesis coupled to quantitative biochemical functional and cellular assays reveal that synthetic ligand and fatty acid cobinding can form a ‘ligand link’ to the Ω-loop and synergistically affect the structure and function of PPARγ. These findings contribute to a growing body of evidence indicating ligand binding to nuclear receptors can be more complex than the classical one-for-one orthosteric exchange of a natural or endogenous ligand with a synthetic ligand.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanjun Liu ◽  
Timothy W Moural ◽  
Sonu BK Koirala ◽  
Jonathan Hernandez ◽  
Zhongjian Shen ◽  
...  

Arthropod Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) constitute a large family of multifunctional enzymes that are mainly associated with xenobiotic or stress adaptation. GST-mediated xenobiotic adaptation is through direct metabolism or sequestration of xenobiotics, and/or indirectly by providing protection against oxidative stress induced by xenobiotic exposure. To date, the roles of GSTs in xenobiotic adaptation in the Colorado potato beetle (CPB), a notorious agriculture pest of plants within Solanaceae have not been well studied. Here, we functionally expressed and characterized an unclassified-class GST, LdGSTu1. The three-dimensional structure of the LdGSTu1 was solved with a resolution up to 1.8 Å by x-ray crystallography. Recombinant LdGSTu1 was used to determine enzyme activity and kinetic parameters using 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB), GSH, p-nitrophenyl acetate (PNA) as substrates. The enzyme kinetic parameters and enzyme-substrate interaction studies demonstrated that LdGSTu1 could catalyze the conjugation of GSH to both CDNB and PNA, with a higher turnover number for CDNB than PNA. The LdGSTu1 enzyme inhibition assays demonstrated that the enzymatic conjugation of GSH to CDNB could be inhibited by multiple pesticides, suggesting a potential function of LdGSTu1 in xenobiotic adaptation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document