Structure function studies on different structural domains of nucleoprotein of H1N1 subtype

Recent 2009 flu pandemic is a global outbreak of a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1. The H1N1 virus has crossed species barrier to human and apparently acquired the capability to transmit this disease from human to human. The NP is a multifunctional protein that not only encapsidates viral RNA (vRNA), but also forms homo-oligomer and thereby maintains RNP structure. It is also thought to be the key adaptor for virus and host cell interaction. Thus, it is one of the factor that play a key role in the pathogenesis of influenza A virus infection. Therefore, to understand the cause of pathogenicity of H1N1 virus, we have studied the structure-function relationship of different domains of NP. Our results showed that conservative mutation in NP of various strains were pathogenic in nature. However, non-conservative mutation slightly abrogated oligomerization and was therefore less pathogenic. Our results also suggest that beside tail and body domain, head domain may also participate in an oligomerization process.     

Oseltamivir resistance depends on the position 273 amino acid of neuraminidase of the type A influenza virus (H1N1), circulating in human population

The structure of neuraminidase of the type A influenza virus (H1N1) spreading in the human population was analyzed. The obtained results indicate a significant correlation between the oseltamivir sensitivity and the nature of the amino acid localized not only to neuraminidase position 274, but also to position 273 of this protein. Phenylalanine at position 273 in neuraminidase indicates a higher propensity to influenza virus mutation H274Y, leading to the appearance of resistant strains. It is suggested that the mutation at position 273 may be one of the characteristics allowing type A influenza virus to be ascribed to a pandemic or a seasonal type.     

Total chemical synthesis of a 27 kDa TASP protein derived from the MscL ion channel of M. tuberculosis by ketoxime-forming ligation

A 27-kDa TASP protein, T(5)Msc(103-151), that was derived from the cytoplasmic domain (amino acid residues 103-151) of the MscL ion channel of M. tuberculosis was synthesized by ketoxime-forming chemoselective ligation between a template molecule carrying five pyruvic acid groups, and linear channel peptides carrying one aminooxyacetic acid group. Ketoxime-forming ligation provided for highly efficient assembly of this large totally synthetic protein construct with yields >90% with modest excess (1.5x) of the aminooxy peptide. Formation of the desired TASP molecule was confirmed by SDS-PAGE analysis and MALDI mass spectrometry. The effect of template attachment on the structure of the peptides constituting the TASP was assessed by circular dichroism spectroscopy. Attachment of the peptides to the topological template induces predominantly helical secondary structure, whereas an analogous peptide that did not bear an aminooxy group, MscL(103-151), does not exhibit significant secondary structure at pH 7 and is found to be monomeric in concentrations up to 65 microM. This observation can be explained by entropic destabilization of the unfolded state of T(5)Msc(103-151) due to the attachment to the template and the resulting loss of degrees of freedom. Pyruvic acid-based ketoxime-forming chemoselective ligation may thus prove to be a useful tool for the assembly of large, non-native protein constructs and their biophysical study.     

The structure and assembly model of the third transmembrane domain of Slc11a1 in SDS micelles revealed by NMR study of the Leu‐substituted peptide

Slc11a1 is an integral membrane protein with 12 putative transmembrane domains (TMDs) and functions as a pH‐coupled divalent metal cation transporter. The conservation of three negatively charged residues in the TMD3 of Slc11 protein family implies the important role of this domain in the function of the proteins. However, aggregation of the transmembrane peptide in micelles prevents structural study of the peptide in these membrane‐mimetic environments by NMR spectroscopy. Here, we characterized the structure, position, and assembly model of Slc11a1‐TMD3 (Lys128‐Ile151) in SDS micelles by the NMR study of its Leu‐substituted peptide. It was found that the two‐site substitutions of Ala for Leu residues at positions 136 and 140 of TMD3 disrupt the aggregation without altering the secondary structure of the peptide. The Leu‐substituted peptide folds as an α‐helix spanning from Leu133 to Gly144 and embedded in the micelles. A Leu zipper is suggested to account for the self‐assembly of the wild‐type peptide in SDS micelles. Copyright © 2011 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

大鼠MUPP1蛋白PDZ8结构域的生化及晶体结构特性

多重PDZ结构域蛋白1型（MUPP1）是一种存在于上皮细胞和神经细胞内含有13个PDZ结构域的重要支架蛋白.在上皮细胞中,MUPP1蛋白在紧密连接结构的形成和上皮细胞的极化过程中发挥重要作用.而在中枢神经系统中,MUPP1基因的1个提前终止突变导致了其最后12个PDZ结构域的缺失,以及严重的先天性脑积水.此外,MUPP1蛋白的表达水平与酒精依赖性和药物戒断的严重性也具有显著的相关性.因此,对MUPP1蛋白所含的PDZ结构域进行纯化和性质鉴定,将有助于深入研究MUPP1蛋白的功能和分子机制.在本文研究中,利用亲和纯化和分子筛技术,对大鼠来源的MUPP1蛋白的第8个PDZ结构域进行了表达和纯化.多角度激光光散射的数据表明: MUPP1-PDZ8结构域在溶液中为单体,分子量为16.4 kD.圆二色谱结果表明,MUPP1-PDZ8结构域具有较好的二级结构折叠,测得其熔解温度为71.6摄氏度,暗示该PDZ结构域在溶液中非常稳定.最后,MUPP1-PDZ8结构域的晶体结构显示,该结构域属于I 型PDZ 结构域,包含3个α螺旋和6个β折叠.其中GLGL模块、β折叠B上的1 351位亮氨酸,以及α螺旋B上的1 405位异亮氨酸/1 398位组氨酸形成的PDZ结合口袋,可以特异性地与其目标蛋白质的羧基末端相结合.综上所述,本文的研究提供了MUPP1-PDZ8结构域的生化特性,以及该结构域与其目标蛋白质相互作用的分子机制,这将为MUPP1蛋白的功能研究提供生物化学与结构生物学的理论基础.     

Insight into cystic fibrosis by structural modelling of CFTR first nucleotide binding fold (NBF1)

Cystic fibrosis is a human monogenic genetic disease caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis (CF) gene, which encodes a membrane protein which functions as a channel: the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein. The most frequent mutation, a deletion of phenylalanine F508 (ΔF508), is located in the first nucleotide binding domain of CFTR: NBF1. This mutation leads to a folding defect in NBF1, responsible for an incomplete maturation of CFTR. The absence of CFTR at the surface of epithelial cells causes the disease. Determination of the three-dimensional (3D) structure of NBF1 is a key step to understanding the alterations induced by the mutation. In the absence of any experimental data, we have chosen to build a 3D model for NBF1. This model was built by homology modelling starting from F₁-ATPase, the only protein of known 3D structure in the ATP binding cassette (ABC) family. This new model defines the central and critical position of F508, predicted in the hydrophobic core of NBF1. F508 indeed could be involved in hydrophobic interactions to ensure a correct folding pathway. Moreover, this model enables the localization of the LSGGQ sequence (a highly conserved sequence in the ABC family) in a loop, at the surface of the protein. This reinforces the hypothesis of its role for mediation of domain—domain interactions of functional significance for the channel regulation. Finally, the model also allows redefinition of the ends of NBF1 within the CFTR sequence. These extremities are defined by the secondary structure elements that are involved in the NBF1 fold. They lead to reconsideration of the C-terminal limit which was initially defined by the end of exon 12.     

人免疫缺陷病毒1型TAT蛋白点突变对其反式激活作用的影响

不同免疫缺陷病毒（ＨＩＶ－１,ＨＩＶ－２和ＳＩＶ）的Ｔａｔ均有３个高度保守的结构域：Ｃｙｓ富集域、核心域和碱性氨基酸富集域,用ＰＣＲ定点突变法在ＨＩＶ－１Ｔａｔ蛋白的这些区域引入单氨基酸或多氨基酸突变;构建了以ＨＩＶ－１ＬＴＲ－１５８到＋８Ｏ区域为启动子,含有不同突变点的突变Ｔａｔ基因表达质粒;以荧光酶基因为报告基因,瞬时共转染Ｊｕｒｋａｔ细胞：分析不同氨基酸突变对Ｔａｔ的反式激活作用的影响。结果发现,突变后的Ｔａｔ蛋白的活性均极大地降低或丧失,表明这些序列内的氨基酸的确定性对Ｔａｔ的活性至关重要。     

In silico genome analysis and drug efficacy test of influenza A virus (H1N1) 2009

The H1N1 2009 virus is pandemic in many countries. The genome of this virus contains eight segments. Among the eight segments maximum numbers of mutation occur at the segment 1 and segment 4 which codes for PB2 subunit and hemagglutinin (HA) and less number of mutations occur in segment 6 which codes for neuraminidase (NA) protein. Neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors (Oseltamivir and Zanamivir) are presently used as an anti-flu drugs. In the present study, the in silico efficacy of different drugs was tested against the swine flu virus. 3D structures of neuraminidase (NA) proteins of H1N1 2009 were generated using Geno3D. The 3D structure of H1N1 1918 was downloaded from PDB. Interaction study was done using Arguslab 4 and PyMol view. Oseltamivir and Zanamivir have good number of interactions with H1N1 2009 virus and the scoring function also support to this result. When compared with the 1918 H1N1 viral protein, 2009 H1N1 NA protein shows more number of interaction and good scoring function. The RMSD value of before and after docking are found to be same at 0.04A° for both the drugs. The force field energy of NA protein 2009 was found to be −15603.529 KJ/mol before docking. The force field energy was found to be decreased after docking at −17620.740 KJ/mol with Tamiflu and −17652.242 KJ/mol with Zanamivir. The number of interaction and scoring function shows that Oseltamivir and Zanamivir will be able to effectively control the present pandemic H1N1 virus 2009.     

Alpha-helix 1 in the DNA-binding domain of heat shock factor 1 regulates its heat-induced trimerization and DNA-binding

Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) primarily regulates various cellular stress responses. The role of α-helix1 (H1) in its DNA-binding domain (DBD) during HSF1 activation remains unknown. Here, HSF1 lacking H1 loses its heat-induced activity, suggesting the importance of the latter. Furthermore, the CD spectra and AMBER prediction show that this H1 deficiency does not change the structure of HSF1 monomer, but does impact its heat-induced trimerization. Point mutation showed that Phe18 in H1 interacts with Tyr60, and that Trp23 interacts with Phe104 by an aromatic-aromatic interaction. Thus, the presence of H1 stabilizes the DBD structure, which facilitates the heat-induced trimerization and DNA-binding of HSF1.     

Gag-processing defect of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase E246 and G247 mutants is caused by activation of an overlapping 5' splice site

We have previously described several human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) mutants that are characterized by an excessive-RNA-splicing phenotype and reduced virus particle production. In one of these mutants (NLD2up), the sequence of 5′ splice site D2 was changed to a consensus splice donor site. This splice site overlaps the HIV-1 integrase reading frame, and thus, the NLD2up mutant also bears a G-to-W change at amino acid 247 of the integrase. A previously described E-to-K mutant at position 246 of the C-terminal domain of the integrase, which resulted in a G-to-A mutation at the +3 position of overlapping splice donor D2 (NLD2A3), was also shown to affect virus particle production and Gag protein processing. By using second-site mutations to revert the excessive-splicing phenotype, we show that the effects on Gag protein processing and virus particle production of both the NLD2up and NLD2A3 mutants are caused by excessive viral RNA splicing due to the activation of the overlapping 5′ splice site and not to the changes in the integrase protein. Both integrase protein mutations, however, are lethal for virus infectivity. These studies suggest that changes in the usage of overlapping splice sites may be a possible alternative explanation for a defective virus phenotype resulting from changes in protein-coding sequences or in the nucleotide sequence during codon optimization.     

牛免疫缺陷病毒反式激活因子功能域的研究

牛免疫缺陷病毒 (Ｂｏｖｉｎｅｉｍｍｕｎｏｄｅｆｉｃｉｅｎｃｙｖｉｒｕｓ,ＢＩＶ )与人免疫缺陷病毒 (Ｈｕｍａｎｉｍ ｍｕｎｏｄｅｆｉｃｉｅｎｃｙｖｉｒｕｓ,ＨＩＶ)同属反转录病毒科慢病毒属[1] 。ＢＩＶ基因组 5′端的长末端重复序列 (ＬＴＲ)起始病毒结构基因和非结构基因的转录[2 ] ,因而许多细胞因子和病毒编码的调节蛋白作用于ＬＴＲ ,以调节ＢＩＶ的基因表达。其中Ｔａｔ蛋白是ＢＩＶ的反式激活因子 ,可大大提高ＬＴＲ的转录水平 ,在ＢＩＶ的基因表达及基因组复制的调节中起重要作用[3 ] 。ＨＩＶ、马传染性贫血病毒 (Ｅｑｕｉ…     

Attenuation of tick-borne encephalitis virus by structure-based site-specific mutagenesis of a putative flavivirus receptor binding site

The impact of a specific region of the envelope protein E of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus on the biology of this virus was investigated by a site-directed mutagenesis approach. The four amino acid residues that were analyzed in detail (E308 to E311) are located on the upper-lateral surface of domain III according to the X-ray structure of the TBE virus protein E and are part of an area that is considered to be a potential receptor binding determinant of flaviviruses. Mutants containing single amino acid substitutions, as well as combinations of mutations, were constructed and analyzed for their virulence in mice, growth properties in cultured cells, and genetic stability. The most significant attenuation in mice was achieved by mutagenesis of threonine 310. Combining this mutation with deletion mutations in the 3'-noncoding region yielded mutants that were highly attenuated. The biological effects of mutation Thr 310 to Lys, however, could be reversed to a large degree by a mutation at a neighboring position (Lys 311 to Glu) that arose spontaneously during infection of a mouse. Mutagenesis of the other positions provided evidence for the functional importance of residue 308 (Asp) and its charge interaction with residue 311 (Lys), whereas residue 309 could be altered or even deleted without any notable consequences. Deletion of residue 309 was accompanied by a spontaneous second-site mutation (Phe to Tyr) at position 332, which in the three-dimensional structure of protein E is spatially close to residue 309. The information obtained in this study is relevant for the development of specific attenuated flavivirus strains that may serve as future live vaccines.     

The Solution Conformational Features of Two Highly Homologous Antigenic Peptides of Foot-and-mouth Disease Virus Serotype A,Variants A and USA,Correlate with their Serological Properties

The solution structure of a peptide corresponding to the VP1 region 141–160 of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) serotype A variant USA has been studied by NMR and computer calculations and compared with the results from a study on a highly homologous peptide deriving from serotype A, variant A. The two peptides differ in their serological behaviour and contain the immunodominant epitope of the virus which partly overlaps with its receptor binding region. Distance constraints, derived both from 2D and 3D homonuclear NMR and 2D-heteronuclear NMR experiments, were combined with DG calculations to yield 50 structures. After refinement through EM and restrained molecular dynamics simulations the selected structures shared several general features. In particular the 151–158 region was a helix in all cases while a large loop similar to that found in peptide A but comprising less residues and stabilized by an H-bond between the side chains of D147 and S150 was found in the majority of structures. A further loop, common to all structures, was identified around the RGD sequence (145–147). This was different from that found in the corresponding region of peptide A as were the conformations of the individual residues within the RGDX sequence. The different structural features shown by the two peptides were rationalized in terms of the S148 (peptide A) to F148 (peptide USA) mutation. The second mutation, that at position 153 (L in A, P in USA) did not appear to affect the structure of the peptide significantly although the different dimensions of the loop in the central region and the type of H-bond stabilizing it could be potentially ascribed to this second mutation. All criteria used pointed to different structural features for the two peptides consistent with their serological behaviour.     

Molecular dynamics as a tool to detect protein foldability. A mutant of domain B1 of protein G with non-native secondary structure propensities

The usefulness of molecular dynamics to assess the structural integrity of mutants containing several mutations has been investigated. Our goal was to determine whether molecular dynamics would be able to discriminate mutants of a protein having a close-to-wild-type fold, from those that are not folded under the same conditions. We used as a model the B1 domain of protein G in which we replaced the unique central alpha-helix by the sequence of the second beta-hairpin, which has a strong intrinsic propensity to form this secondary structure in solution. In the resulting protein, one-third of the secondary structure has been replaced by a non-native one. Models of the mutants were built based on the three-dimensional structure of the wild-type GB1 domain. During 2 ns of molecular dynamics simulations on these models, mutants containing up to 10 mutations in the helix retained the native fold, while another mutant with an additional mutation unfolded. This result is in agreement with our circular dichroism and NMR experiments, which indicated that the former mutants fold into a structure similar to the wild-type, as opposed to the latter mutant which is partly unfolded. Additionally, a mutant containing six mutations scattered through the surface of the domain, and which is unfolded, was also detected by the simulation. This study suggests that molecular dynamics calculations could be performed on molecular models of mutants of a protein to evaluate their foldability, prior to a mutagenesis experiment.     

Improved production of heterologous proteins by a glucose repression-defective mutant of Kluyveromyces lactis

The secreted production of heterologous proteins in Kluyveromyces lactis was studied. A glucoamylase (GAA) from the yeast Arxula adeninivorans was used as a reporter protein for the study of the secretion efficiencies of several wild-type and mutant strains of K. lactis. The expression of the reporter protein was placed under the control of the strong promoter of the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Among the laboratory strains tested, strain JA6 was the best producer of GAA. Since this strain is known to be highly sensitive to glucose repression and since this is an undesired trait for biomass-oriented applications, we examined heterologous protein production by using glucose repression-defective mutants isolated from this strain. One of them, a mutant carrying a dgr151-1 mutation, showed a significantly improved capability of producing heterologous proteins such as GAA, human serum albumin, and human interleukin-1beta compared to the parent strain. dgr151-1 is an allele of RAG5, the gene encoding the only hexokinase present in K. lactis (a homologue of S. cerevisiae HXK2). The mutation in this strain was mapped to nucleotide position +527, resulting in a change from glycine to aspartic acid within the highly conserved kinase domain. Cells carrying the dgr151-1 allele also showed a reduction in N- and O-glycosylation. Therefore, the dgr151 strain may be a promising host for the production of heterologous proteins, especially when the hyperglycosylation of recombinant proteins must be avoided.     

Studies on the escape mutants of rabies virus which are resistant to neutralization by a highly conserved conformational epitope-specific monoclonal antibody #1-46-12

We investigated a virus-neutralizing conformational epitope of the rabies virus glycoprotein (G) that is recognized by an anti-G monoclonal antibody (mAb; #1-46-12) and shared by most of the laboratory strains of the virus. To investigate the epitope structure, we isolated escape mutants from the HEP-Flury virus (wild-type; wt) after repeated passages in culture in the presence of the mAb. Immunofluorescence studies indicated that the mutants could be classified into two groups; the Group I lacked the epitope, while Group II preserved the epitope. The latter was dominant under the passage conditions, since Group I disappeared during the continuous passages. G proteins showed different electrophoretic mobilities; G protein of Group I migrated at the same rate as wt G protein, while that of Group II migrated at a slower rate, which was shown to be due to acquisition of an additional oligosaccharide side chain. Nucleotide sequencing of the G gene strongly suggested that amino acid substitutions at Thr-36 by Pro and Ser-39 by Thr of the G protein are responsible for the escape mutations of Groups I and II, respectively. The latter is a unique mutation of the rabies virus that allows the G protein to be glycosylated additionally at Asn-37, a potential glycosylation site that is not glycosylated in the parent virus, in preserving the epitope-positive conformation. These results suggest that to keep the 1-46-12 epitope structure is of greater survival advantage for the virus to escape the neutralization than to destroy it, which could be achieved by acquiring an additional oligosaccharide chain at Asn-37.     

海七鳃鳗(Petromyzon marinus)anoctaimin-1蛋白的生物信息学分析

七鳃鳗是现存的最原始的无颌类脊椎动物之一,也是连接无脊椎动物与脊椎动物的重要环节,对生物的起源与进化有很高的研究价值。anoctamin-1蛋白(ANO1)是一种重要的跨膜蛋白,与细胞内阴离子的跨膜运输相关。以海七鳃鳗为例,利用不同软件对海七鳃鳗ANO1蛋白的理化性质、结构域、蛋白结构特征、物种进化保守性以及系统进化关系进行生物信息学分析表明:海七鳃鳗ANO1的开放阅读框为2 373 bp,编码791个氨基酸,属于anoctamin蛋白家族,具有7个跨膜区;二级结构含有无规则卷曲、α螺旋和β折叠。将海七鳃鳗与其他物种的ANO1氨基酸序列进行同源比对,并构建系统进化树,以确认海七鳃鳗ANO1基因的保守性和进化地位。对ANO1基因及蛋白的生物信息学分析为ANO1基因及蛋白的相关研究提供了重要的信息基础。