scholarly journals Streptavidin/biotin: Tethering geometry defines unbinding mechanics

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (13) ◽  
pp. eaay5999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen M. Sedlak ◽  
Leonard C. Schendel ◽  
Hermann E. Gaub ◽  
Rafael C. Bernardi
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Energy Barrier ◽  
Mechanical Stability ◽  
Binding Pocket ◽  
Entire System ◽  
Shear Forces ◽  
Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Force Loading ◽  
Applied Forces

Macromolecules tend to respond to applied forces in many different ways. Chemistry at high shear forces can be intriguing, with relatively soft bonds becoming very stiff in specific force-loading geometries. Largely used in bionanotechnology, an important case is the streptavidin (SA)/biotin interaction. Although SA’s four subunits have the same affinity, we find that the forces required to break the SA/biotin bond depend strongly on the attachment geometry. With AFM-based single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS), we measured unbinding forces of biotin from different SA subunits to range from 100 to more than 400 pN. Using a wide-sampling approach, we carried out hundreds of all-atom steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations for the entire system, including molecular linkers. Our strategy revealed the molecular mechanism that causes a fourfold difference in mechanical stability: Certain force-loading geometries induce conformational changes in SA’s binding pocket lowering the energy barrier, which biotin has to overcome to escape the pocket.

scholarly journals Molecular mechanism of extreme mechanostability in a pathogen adhesin

Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 359 (6383) ◽  
pp. 1527-1533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas F. Milles ◽  
Klaus Schulten ◽  
Hermann E. Gaub ◽  
Rafael C. Bernardi
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Mechanical Stability ◽  
Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Covalent Bond ◽  
Binding Pocket ◽  
Peptide Backbone ◽  
Human Fibrinogen ◽  
Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

High resilience to mechanical stress is key when pathogens adhere to their target and initiate infection. Using atomic force microscopy–based single-molecule force spectroscopy, we explored the mechanical stability of the prototypical staphylococcal adhesin SdrG, which targets a short peptide from human fibrinogen β. Steered molecular dynamics simulations revealed, and single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments confirmed, the mechanism by which this complex withstands forces of over 2 nanonewtons, a regime previously associated with the strength of a covalent bond. The target peptide, confined in a screwlike manner in the binding pocket of SdrG, distributes forces mainly toward the peptide backbone through an intricate hydrogen bond network. Thus, these adhesins can attach to their target with exceptionally resilient mechanostability, virtually independent of peptide side chains.

scholarly journals Conformational rearrangements in the transmembrane domain of CNGA1 channels revealed by single-molecule force spectroscopy

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sourav Maity ◽  
Monica Mazzolini ◽  
Manuel Arcangeletti ◽  
Alejandro Valbuena ◽  
Paolo Fabris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Transmembrane Domain ◽  
Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Dynamic Structure ◽  
Transmembrane Domains ◽  
Structural Studies ◽  
Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Conformational Rearrangements ◽  
Α Helix

Abstract Cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channels are activated by binding of cyclic nucleotides. Although structural studies have identified the channel pore and selectivity filter, conformation changes associated with gating remain poorly understood. Here we combine single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) with mutagenesis, bioinformatics and electrophysiology to study conformational changes associated with gating. By expressing functional channels with SMFS fingerprints in Xenopus laevis oocytes, we were able to investigate gating of CNGA1 in a physiological-like membrane. Force spectra determined that the S4 transmembrane domain is mechanically coupled to S5 in the open state, but S3 in the closed state. We also show there are multiple pathways for the unfolding of the transmembrane domains, probably caused by a different degree of α-helix folding. This approach demonstrates that CNG transmembrane domains have dynamic structure and establishes SMFS as a tool for probing conformational change in ion channels.

scholarly journals Modulating mechanical stability of heterodimerization between engineered orthogonal helical domains

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao Yu ◽  
Zhihai Zhao ◽  
Zibo Chen ◽  
Shimin Le ◽  
Jie Yan
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Mechanical Stability ◽  
Functional Materials ◽  
Temperature Dependent ◽  
Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Protein Mechanics ◽  
Immunoglobulin Domain ◽  
Spectroscopy Studies ◽  
Spectrin Repeats

Abstract Mechanically stable specific heterodimerization between small protein domains have a wide scope of applications, from using as a molecular anchorage in single-molecule force spectroscopy studies of protein mechanics, to serving as force-bearing protein linker for modulation of mechanotransduction of cells, and potentially acting as a molecular crosslinker for functional materials. Here, we explore the possibility to develop heterodimerization system with a range of mechanical stability from a set of recently engineered helix-heterotetramers whose mechanical properties have yet to be characterized. We demonstrate this possibility using two randomly chosen helix-heterotetramers, showing that their mechanical properties can be modulated by changing the stretching geometry and the number of interacting helices. These helix-heterotetramers and their derivatives are sufficiently stable over physiological temperature range. Using it as mechanically stable anchorage, we demonstrate the applications in single-molecule manipulation studies of the temperature dependent unfolding and refolding of a titin immunoglobulin domain and α-actinin spectrin repeats.

scholarly journals Depicting Conformational Ensembles of α-Synuclein by Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy and Native Mass Spectroscopy

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (20) ◽  
pp. 5181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Corti ◽  
Claudia A. Marrano ◽  
Domenico Salerno ◽  
Stefania Brocca ◽  
Antonino Natalello ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Intrinsically Disordered Proteins ◽  
Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Native Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Disordered Proteins ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Intrinsically Disordered

Description of heterogeneous molecular ensembles, such as intrinsically disordered proteins, represents a challenge in structural biology and an urgent question posed by biochemistry to interpret many physiologically important, regulatory mechanisms. Single-molecule techniques can provide a unique contribution to this field. This work applies single molecule force spectroscopy to probe conformational properties of α-synuclein in solution and its conformational changes induced by ligand binding. The goal is to compare data from such an approach with those obtained by native mass spectrometry. These two orthogonal, biophysical methods are found to deliver a complex picture, in which monomeric α-synuclein in solution spontaneously populates compact and partially compacted states, which are differently stabilized by binding to aggregation inhibitors, such as dopamine and epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Analyses by circular dichroism and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy show that these transitions do not involve formation of secondary structure. This comparative analysis provides support to structural interpretation of charge-state distributions obtained by native mass spectrometry and helps, in turn, defining the conformational components detected by single molecule force spectroscopy.

Single molecule force spectroscopy reveals that the oxidation state of cobalt ions plays an important role in enhancing the mechanical stability of proteins

Nanoscale ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (42) ◽  
pp. 19791-19796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiahao Xia ◽  
Jiacheng Zuo ◽  
Hongbin Li
Keyword(s):  
Oxidation State ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Mechanical Stability ◽  
Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Metal Chelation ◽  
Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Cobalt Ions

The binding of Co(iii) to the bi-histidine metal chelation site significantly enhances protein's mechanical stability.

scholarly journals Mechanical stability of bivalent transition metal complexes analyzed by single-molecule force spectroscopy

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 817-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Gensler ◽  
Christian Eidamshaus ◽  
Maurice Taszarek ◽  
Hans-Ulrich Reissig ◽  
Jürgen P Rabe
Keyword(s):  
Transition Metal Complexes ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Mechanical Stability ◽  
Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Bond Rupture ◽  
Aqueous Environment ◽  
Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Bivalent Transition Metal ◽  
Rupture Behavior

Multivalent biomolecular interactions allow for a balanced interplay of mechanical stability and malleability, and nature makes widely use of it. For instance, systems of similar thermal stability may have very different rupture forces. Thus it is of paramount interest to study and understand the mechanical properties of multivalent systems through well-characterized model systems. We analyzed the rupture behavior of three different bivalent pyridine coordination complexes with Cu2+ in aqueous environment by single-molecule force spectroscopy. Those complexes share the same supramolecular interaction leading to similar thermal off-rates in the range of 0.09 and 0.36 s−1, compared to 1.7 s−1 for the monovalent complex. On the other hand, the backbones exhibit different flexibility, and we determined a broad range of rupture lengths between 0.3 and 1.1 nm, with higher most-probable rupture forces for the stiffer backbones. Interestingly, the medium-flexible connection has the highest rupture forces, whereas the ligands with highest and lowest rigidity seem to be prone to consecutive bond rupture. The presented approach allows separating bond and backbone effects in multivalent model systems.

scholarly journals Nucleotides regulate the mechanical hierarchy between subdomains of the nucleotide binding domain of the Hsp70 chaperone DnaK

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (33) ◽  
pp. 10389-10394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Bauer ◽  
Dale R. Merz ◽  
Benjamin Pelz ◽  
Kelly E. Theisen ◽  
Gail Yacyshyn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Mechanical Stability ◽  
Nucleotide Binding ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Nucleotide Binding Domain ◽  
Chaperone Dnak ◽  
Hsp70 Chaperone

The regulation of protein function through ligand-induced conformational changes is crucial for many signal transduction processes. The binding of a ligand alters the delicate energy balance within the protein structure, eventually leading to such conformational changes. In this study, we elucidate the energetic and mechanical changes within the subdomains of the nucleotide binding domain (NBD) of the heat shock protein of 70 kDa (Hsp70) chaperone DnaK upon nucleotide binding. In an integrated approach using single molecule optical tweezer experiments, loop insertions, and steered coarse-grained molecular simulations, we find that the C-terminal helix of the NBD is the major determinant of mechanical stability, acting as a glue between the two lobes. After helix unraveling, the relative stability of the two separated lobes is regulated by ATP/ADP binding. We find that the nucleotide stays strongly bound to lobe II, thus reversing the mechanical hierarchy between the two lobes. Our results offer general insights into the nucleotide-induced signal transduction within members of the actin/sugar kinase superfamily.

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