蛋白质-RNA序列结构界面偏好性及用于对接打分统计势的构建

本文对来自PDB (Protein Data Bank)数据库的蛋白质-RNA复合物结构构建了非冗余非核糖体数据库(694个结构),并对此数据库统计了蛋白质和RNA序列及二级结构的界面偏好性.结果发现,蛋白质β折叠、3_(10)-helix和RNA未配对核苷酸,尤其是未配对中空间排列不规整的核苷酸,具有显著的界面偏好性.据此,对二级结构进行归类,建立了考虑序列和二级结构信息的60×12氨基酸-核苷酸成对偏好势,并将其作为打分函数用于蛋白质-RNA对接中近天然结构的筛选.结果表明,该60×12统计势的打分成功率为65.77%,优于考虑蛋白质或RNA二级结构信息的统计势,及我们小组之前在251个结构上构建的60×8~*统计势.该工作有助于加深对蛋白质-RNA特异性识别的理解,可推动复合物结构预测的进展.     

基于遗传算法预测2D三向的蛋白质结构

本文基于范德华力势能预测2D三向的蛋白质结构。首先,将蛋白质结构预测这一生物问题转化为数学问题,并建立基于范德华力势能函数的数学模型。其次,使用遗传算法对数学模型进行求解,为了提高蛋白质结构预测效率,我们在标准遗传算法的基础上引入了调整算子这一概念,改进了遗传算法。最后,进行数值模拟实验。实验的结果表明范德华力势能函数模型是可行的,同时,和规范遗传算法相比,改进后的遗传算法能够较大幅度提高算法的搜索效率,并且遗传算法在蛋白质结构预测问题上有巨大潜力。     

基于去折叠自由能的蛋白质结构域划分方法——适用于连续与不连续结构域

结构域是蛋白质的一个结构层次 ,可以看作是蛋白质结构、折叠、功能、进化和设计的基本单位。大多数的蛋白质都可分为若干个结构域 ,结构域的不同组合使蛋白质具有不同的三级结构并具有不同的功能。蛋白质结构域的划分在理论与应用上都具有重要意义 ,但目前对结构域的划分还没有一个十分理想的方法。作者曾经发展了一种通过计算去折叠自由能划分蛋白质结构域的方法 ,但该方法只适用于连续双结构域的划分。现在 ,作者通过构造氨基酸残基相互作用矩阵 ,并进行对应分析 (correspondenceanalysis) ,然后根据去折叠自由能和一些经验打分函数对蛋白质进行切割和优选 ,发展了可以同时处理连续和不连续结构域的划分方法。该方法与晶体结构作者手工分析相比较 ,二者的结果有 76 %的相似。     

α类蛋白质折叠类型自动化分类研究

蛋白质折叠类型识别是蛋白质结构研究的重要内容,折叠类型分类是折叠识别的基础。通过对ASTRAL-1.65数据库α类蛋白质所属折叠类型进行系统研究,建立蛋白质折叠类型模板数据库,提取反映折叠类型拓扑结构的模板特征参数,根据模板特征参数和TM-align结构比对结果,建立基于特征参数的打分函数Fdscore,并实现α类蛋白质折叠类型自动化分类。使用相同数据集样本,将Fdscore分类方法与TM-score分类方法对比,Fdscore分类方法的平均敏感性、平均特异性、MCC值分别为71.86%、99.49%、0.69,均高于TM-score分类方法相对应结果。上述结果表明该分类方法可用于α类蛋白质折叠类型的自动化分类。     

蛋白质结构从头预测方法研究进展

蛋白质结构从头预测是不依赖模板仅从氨基酸序列信息得到天然结构。它的关键是正确定义能量函数、精确选用计算机搜索算法来寻找能量最低值。基于此,本文系统介绍了能量函数和构象搜索策略,并列举了几种比较成功的从头预测方法,通过比较得出结论:基于统计学知识的能量函数是近年来从头预测发展的主要方向,现有从头预测的构象搜索都用到Monte Carlo法。这表明随着蛋白质结构预测研究的深入,能量函数的构建、构象搜索方法的选择、大分子蛋白质结构的从头预测等关键性问题都取得了突破性进展。     

对分子置换法中积分半径选取方法的探讨

通过对晶胞中帕特逊向量的统计分布的研究,从理论上阐述了根据模型结构单元的线度确定旋转函数的积分半径这种作法的合理性,并且指出了估算积分半径取值范围的具体方法,以及自身旋转函数与交叉旋转函数的积分半径取值范围的区别。经过我们将此方法应用于酚胰岛素Ｂ链羰端六肽胰岛素的旋转函数求解,计算结果证实了这种积分半径的估算方法的可靠性。     

基于K-mer扭转角偏好的蛋白质结构类型预测

蛋白质的序列、结构和功能多种多样。大量研究表明蛋白质的结构与其氨基酸序列的排序有关,并且局部的氨基酸序列环境对蛋白质的结构具有一定的影响。本文提出一种新的基于5-mer氨基酸扭转角统计偏好的蛋白质结构类型预测方法,该方法通过PDB数据库中5-mer中间氨基酸的扭转角统计偏好来进行结构类型的预测。新方法可以通过计算机仿真实现对新蛋白质序列结构类型的快速预测,并通过两组随机抽取的CATH数据验证了新方法的有效性。     

AANA for Windows:在Windows下开发的根据氨基酸组成快速鉴别蛋白质的程序

AANA是一个根据蛋白质的氨基酸组成快速鉴别蛋白质的计算机程序.其基本原理是通过统计蛋白质序列数据库中每个蛋白质序列的氨基酸组成,生成一个含蛋白质长度、组成和分子量的数据库,将靶蛋白的组成和分子量等数据与该数据库中的数据进行对比,从中检出与这接近的蛋白质,从而对该蛋白进行初步的鉴别。在有些情况下,甚至能相当准确地确定靶蛋白与数据库的某个(些)蛋白质相关     

用于蛋白质分子设计的环区模建方法

利用距离约束的数据库搜索方法和接触势能分析技术，提出了一种用来模建蛋白质结构环区的分子模建方法。通过对珠蛋白、丝氨酸蛋白酶、钙结合蛋白和溶菌酶中的５０个环区的模建，证明上述方法是可行的。对总区５０个环区的模建表明，８６％的环区可以模建，只有１４％的环区不能模建。研究结果表明这种方法非常适用于蛋白质工程中的环区模建。     

用BP神经网络基于氨基酸特性预测非同源蛋白质二级结构含量

依据蛋白质氨基酸特性,以氨基酸组成和有偏自协方差函数为特征矢量,用BP神经网络提出了一种预测非同源蛋白质中α螺旋和β折叠二级结构含量的计算方法。采用相互独立的非同源蛋白质数据库对该方法进行了检验。用Ponnuswamy值时,对二级结构α螺旋和β折叠含量的预测结果是;自检验平均绝对误差分别为0.069和0.065,相应标准偏差分别为0.044和0.047;他检验平均绝对误差分别为0.077和0.070,相应标准偏差分别为0.051和0.049。与仅以氨基酸组成为特征矢量的BP神经网络方法比较,相应的他检验平均绝对误差分别减小了0.024和0.016,标准偏差分别减小了0.031和0.018;与改进的多元线性回归方法比较,相应的他检验平均绝对误差分别减小了0.018和0.011,准偏差分别减小了0.020和0.012。表明：基于氨基酸组成和有偏自协方差函数为特征矢量的BP神经网络预测蛋白质二级结构含量的方法可有效提高预测精度。     

Statistical energy potential: reduced representation of Dehouck–Gilis–Rooman function by selecting against decoy datasets

Statistical effective energy function (SEEF) is derived from the statistical analysis of the database of known protein structures. Dehouck-Gilis-Rooman (DGR) group has recently created a new generation of SEEF in which the additivity of the energy terms was manifested by decomposing the total folding free energy into a sum of lower order terms. We have tried to optimize the potential function based on their work. By using decoy datasets as screening filter, and through modification of algorithms in calculation of accessible surface area and residue-residue interaction cutoff, four new combinations of the energy terms were found to be comparable to DGR potential in performance test. Most importantly, the term number was reduced from the original 30 terms to only 5 in our results, thereby substantially decreasing the computation time while the performance was not sacrificed. Our results further proved the additivity and manipulability of the DGR original energy function, and our new combination of the energy could be used in prediction of protein structures.     

A theoretical and empirical investigation of delayed growth response in the continuous culture of bacteria

When the growth of bacteria in a chemostat is controlled by limiting the supply of a single essential nutrient, the growth rate is affected both by the concentration of this nutrient in the culture medium and by the amount of time that it takes for the chemical and physiological processes that result in the production of new biomass. Thus, although the uptake of nutrient by cells is an essentially instantaneous process, the addition of new biomass is delayed by the amount of time that it takes to metabolize the nutrient. Mathematical models that incorporate this "delayed growth response" (DGR) phenomenon have been developed and analysed. However, because they are formulated in terms of parameters that are difficult to measure directly, these models are of limited value to experimentalists. In this paper, we introduce a DGR model that is formulated in terms of measurable parameters. In addition, we provide for this model a complete set of criteria for determining persistence versus extinction of the bacterial culture in the chemostat. Specifically, we show that DGR plays a role in determining persistence versus extinction only under certain ranges of chemostat operating parameters. It is also shown, however, that DGR plays a role in determining the steady-state nutrient and bacteria concentrations in all instances of persistence. The steady state and transient behavior of solutions of our model is found to be in agreement with data that we obtained in growing Escherichia coli 23716 in a chemostat with glucose as a limiting nutrient. One of the theoretical predictions of our model that does not occur in other DGR models is that under certain conditions a large delay in growth response might actually have a positive effect on the bacteria's ability to persist.     

General van der Waals potential for common organic molecules

This work presents a systematic development of a new van der Waals potential (vdW2016) for common organic molecules based on symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) energy decomposition. The Buf-14-7 function, as well as Cubic-mean and Waldman–Hagler mixing rules were chosen given their best performance among other popular potentials. A database containing 39 organic molecules and 108 dimers was utilized to derive a general set of vdW parameters, which were further validated on nucleobase stacking systems and testing organic dimers. The vdW2016 potential is anticipated to significantly improve the accuracy and transferability of new generations of force fields for organic molecules.     

Growth rates of Eucheuma denticulatum (Burman) Collins et Harvey and Kappaphycus striatum (Schmitz) Doty under different conditions in warm waters of Southern Japan

Green and brown strains of Eucheuma denticulatum and new cultivated strain Kappaphycus striatum were collected from commercial cultivation ground in Philippines. Daily growth rates (DGR) of the materials were measured under different temperatures and photon fluence in laboratory controlled conditions and at different depths in the sea using the floating raft culture method in Uranochi Inlet, Tosa Bay, Southern Japan. The highest DGR of E. denticulatum (brown strain) (2.76% ±0.64) and K. striatum (green strain) (4.5% ±1.51) were recorded at 25°C. K. striatum (both strains) had the highest DGR and grew over a wide range of temperatures. Observation on the effect of photon fluence showed that K. striatum (brown strain) grew well (DGR = 5.16%±1.3) at 145 μmol photon m^-2 s^-1.In the floating raft cultivation, K. striatum (green strain) had a DGR of3.1% ± 0.93 higher than E. denticulatum (brown strain)(2.73% ± 0.43). This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Thermodynamics of protein folding: a microscopic view

Statistical thermodynamics provides a powerful theoretical framework for analyzing, understanding and predicting the conformational properties of biomolecules. The central quantity is the potential of mean force or effective energy as a function of conformation, which consists of the intramolecular energy and the solvation free energy. The intramolecular energy can be reasonably described by molecular mechanics-type functions. While the solvation free energy is more difficult to model, useful results can be obtained with simple approximations. Such functions have been used to estimate the intramolecular energy contribution to protein stability and obtain insights into the origin of thermodynamic functions of protein folding, such as the heat capacity. With reasonable decompositions of the various energy terms, one can obtain meaningful values for the contribution of one type of interaction or one chemical group to stability. Future developments will allow the thermodynamic characterization of ever more complex biological processes.     

Effects of the supplementation of distillers’ grape residues on ruminal degradability,whole tract digestibility and nitrogen metabolism in sheep

ABSTRACT

Five ruminally and duodenally cannulated Kazakh male lambs (30 ± 2.75 kg) maintained singly in a metabolic cage were used in a 5 × 5 Latin square experiment to investigate the effect of supplementing a ration with five different levels of distillers’ grape residue (DGR) on ruminal degradability, whole tract digestibility and nitrogen (N) metabolism of growing lambs. The rations were isoenergetic and isonitrogenous and contained 0, 3.85, 7.70, 11.55 and 15.41% DGR (DM basis). Each experimental period lasted for 18 d: 10 d for adaptation to the dietary treatment and 8 d for faecal, urinary, ruminal and duodenal digesta sample collections. The outflow rate of ruminal digesta increased (p = 0.032) linearly with the increased level of dietary neutral detergent fibre content, caused by the supplementation of DGR. As a result, the effective degradability of dry matter and crude protein decreased significantly with the treatments. Although the dietary intake of N, duodenal flow of total N, and the endogenous N at the duodenum were not affected by experimental treatments, N fractions in the digesta were altered. Ruminal microbial N decreased (p < 0.01) linearly; in contrast, ruminal un-degradable protein increased linearly (p < 0.01) in response to the increased addition of DGR. Although there was no significant difference in faecal N among treatments, N retention was increased linearly (p = 0.014), owing to the remarkable reduction (p = 0.016) of urinary N excretion with an increasing level of DGR. The results indicate that the DGR has some potential benefits of increasing the supply of bypass protein and of improving the utilisation efficiency of N for sheep. Therefore, the supplementation of DGR in ruminant feeding is recommended at levels not exceeding 10% of the diet.     

Critical Role of Flanking Residues in NGR-to-isoDGR Transition and CD13/Integrin Receptor Switching

Various NGR-containing peptides have been exploited for targeted delivery of drugs to CD13-positive tumor neovasculature. Recent studies have shown that compounds containing this motif can rapidly deamidate and generate isoaspartate-glycine-arginine (isoDGR), a ligand of αvβ3-integrin that can be also exploited for drug delivery to tumors. We have investigated the role of NGR and isoDGR peptide scaffolds on their biochemical and biological properties. Peptides containing the cyclic CNGRC sequence could bind CD13-positive endothelial cells more efficiently than those containing linear GNGRG. Peptide degradation studies showed that cyclic peptides mostly undergo NGR-to-isoDGR transition and CD13/integrin switching, whereas linear peptides mainly undergo degradation reactions involving the α-amino group, which generate non-functional six/seven-membered ring compounds, unable to bind αvβ3, and small amount of isoDGR. Structure-activity studies showed that cyclic isoDGR could bind αvβ3 with an affinity >100-fold higher than that of linear isoDGR and inhibited endothelial cell adhesion and tumor growth more efficiently. Cyclic isoDGR could also bind other integrins (αvβ5, αvβ6, αvβ8, and α5β1), although with 10–100-fold lower affinity. Peptide linearization caused loss of affinity for all integrins and loss of specificity, whereas α-amino group acetylation increased the affinity for all tested integrins, but caused loss of specificity. These results highlight the critical role of molecular scaffold on the biological properties of NGR/isoDGR peptides. These findings may have important implications for the design and development of anticancer drugs or tumor neovasculature-imaging compounds, and for the potential function of different NGR/isoDGR sites in natural proteins.     

Active proton leak in mitochondria: A new way to regulate substrate oxidation

The main function of mitochondria is energy transduction, from substrate oxidation to the free energy of ATP synthesis, through oxidative phosphorylation. For physiological reasons, the degree of coupling between these two processes must be modulated in order to adapt redox potential and ATP turnover to cellular needs. Such a modulation leads to energy wastage. To this day, two energy wastage mechanisms have been described: the membrane passive proton conductance (proton leak) and the decrease in the coupling efficiency between electrons transfer and proton extrusion at the proton pumps level (redox or proton slipping). In this paper, we describe a new energy wastage mechanism of interest. We show that in isolated yeast mitochondria, the membrane proton conductance is strictly dependent on the external dehydrogenases activity. An increase in their activity leads to an increase in the membrane proton conductance. This proton permeability is independent of the respiratory chain and ATP synthase proton pumps. We propose to name this new mechanism “active proton leak.” Such a mechanism could allow a wide modulation of substrate oxidation in response to cellular redox constraints.     

Descending input from the vestibulolateral cerebellum suppresses electrosensory responses in the dorsal octavolateralis nucleus of the elasmobranch,Raja erinacea

1. The dorsal octavolateralis nucleus is the primary electrosensory nucleus in elasmobranchs and receives a major descending input from the dorsal granular ridge (DGR), a part of the vestibulolateral cerebellum. Removal of DGR altered the response properties of ascending efferent neurons (AENs), the projection neurons of the dorsal octavolateralis nucleus.
2. Elimination of DGR by lesion or lidocaine microinjection increased the excitability in AENs. Spontaneous activity increased by 680% and receptive fields became 1300% larger. The sensitivity of AENs to electric field stimuli increased by 560% and the time constant of adaptation increased by 300%, while threshold sensitivity remained unchanged.
3. Some electrosensory units responded to proprioceptive stimuli. In intact animals, the spontaneous activity of AENs was much less modulated by changes in fin position than primary electroreceptor afferents. Lesions to DGR appeared to increase the responsiveness of AENs to changes in fin position.
4. These results indicate that the action of DGR on the dorsal octavolateralis nucleus is primarily inhibitory and may function in a gain control mechanism. The possibility also exists for a mechanical-reafferent reduction mechanism in the electrosensory system of the elasmobranch that may be mediated by DGR.

     

Structural basis for the interaction of isoDGR with the RGD-binding site of alphavbeta3 integrin

Asparagine deamidation at the NGR sequence in the 5th type I repeat of fibronectin (FN-I5) generates isoDGR, an alphavbeta3 integrin-binding motif regulating endothelial cell adhesion and proliferation. By NMR and molecular dynamics studies, we analyzed the structure of CisoDGRC (isoDGR-2C), a cyclic beta-peptide mimicking the FN-I5 site, and compared it with NGR, RGD, or DGR-containing cyclopeptides. Docking experiments show that isoDGR, exploiting an inverted orientation as compared with RGD, favorably interacts with the RGD-binding site of alphavbeta3, both recapitulating canonical RGD-alphavbeta3 contacts and establishing additional polar interactions. Conversely, NGR and DGR motifs lack the fundamental pharmacophoric requirements for high receptor affinity. Therefore, unlike NGR and DGR, isoDGR is a new natural recognition motif of the RGD-binding pocket of alphavbeta3. These findings contribute to explain the different functional properties of FN-I5 before and after deamidation, and provide support for the hypothesis that NGR --> isoDGR transition can work as a molecular timer for activating latent integrin-binding sites in proteins, thus regulating protein function.