淀粉蔗糖酶AcAS的工作机理与去折叠性质研究

淀粉蔗糖酶(amylosucrase, AS)是一种葡萄糖基转移酶(E.C. 2.4.1.4),隶属于糖苷水解酶13家族．当体系中存在葡聚糖时,AS可以蔗糖为唯一底物催化合成直链葡聚糖．与AS相比,其他拥有合成直链淀粉样多糖的酶都需要利用昂贵的核苷酸激活糖来进行合成．这使得AS成为一种具有工业应用潜力的工业酶．尽管具有较大应用潜力,但是较弱的稳定性严重影响其在工业上的应用．本工作中,以NpAS和DgAS的晶体结构为模板,对氯酚节杆菌(Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus)中发现的一种新型AS(AcAS)结构进行了模建．通过对AcAS与其他AS结构进行详细的比较,推断出AcAS的工作机理．随后,利用高斯网络模型(GNM)对其功能型运动进行了分析．根据GNM的结果,发现AcAS可分为两个运动方向相异的部分．最后,利用迭代高斯网络对AcAS的去折叠性质进行了研究．这些结果对随后的淀粉蔗糖酶的工业开发有一定帮助．     

节杆菌K1108乙内酰脲酶三维结构的模建和分析

利用同源模建技术,以节杆菌DSM3745乙内酰脲酶的晶体结构为模板,模建了节杆菌K1108乙内酰脲酶的三维结构。模建的节杆菌K1108乙内酰脲酶结构由一个中心的(α/β)g捅状结构域和富含β-折叠的结构域两个区域组成,富含β-折叠的结构域在中心(α/β)g捅状结构域的侧面,由分子的N端和C端组成。根据K1108乙内酰脲酶和其它酶在结构和活性部位的保守性,确定了K1108乙内酰脲酶的底物结合部位,并对酶的活性中心的特征进行了分析,对L-Hyd的底物选择性进行了解释。     

α-葡萄糖苷酶三维结构的同源模建与分子设计

目的:该文预测了来源于嗜热脂肪芽孢杆菌(Bacillus stearothermophilus)ATCC 12016编码α-葡萄糖苷酶序列的三维结构,设计突变位点,构建突变体模型,并对预测三维结构与突变体进行了评估与分析.方法:分析了α-葡萄糖苷酶的核酸序列与蛋白序列,确定了α-葡萄糖苷酶蛋白序列的同源性与保守区特征;利用来源于蜡状芽胞杆菌(Bacillus cereus)ATCC 7064寡聚-1,6-葡萄糖苷酶三维蛋白结构作为模板,同时基于同源模建方法对α-葡萄糖苷酶序列的三维结构与突变突变体模型进行了结构预测.结果:对预测的三维结构与突变体进行评估与分析,表明预测与设计的结构达到合理化标准.结论:基于以上研究结果,构建α-葡萄糖苷酶的三维结构模型是合理的,为蛋白质工程应用建立了理论研究平台.     

核盘菌AROM蛋白的三级结构分析

核盘菌编码AROM蛋白的arom基因已经被克隆测序,本文根据该基因翻译的氨基酸序列用同源模建方法和从头模建方法分析了AROM蛋白各结构域的三级结构和功能位点,以及该蛋白二聚体可能的组装方式。结果表明,核盘菌AROM蛋白的脱氢奎尼酸合酶结构域进一步由N-端含有一个Rossmann折叠的α/β结构域和C-端的α螺旋结构域组成;5-烯醇丙酮酰莽草酸-3-磷酸合酶结构域则由两个相似结构域组成,每个结构域含有不同拷贝数的β折叠和α螺旋;莽草酸激酶结构域的N-端由三个β折叠组成;脱氢奎尼酸酶结构域为(α2β2)3多肽,在N-端有一对反平行的β链,在C-端有loop环;莽草酸脱氢酶结构域含有一个由α/β组成的催化结构域和一个含有Rossmann折叠的NADPH结合结构域。     

基于体外分子进化技术提高弯曲芽孢杆菌CCTCC 2015368 β-淀粉酶的热稳定性

运用体外分子进化技术易错PCR方法,高通量筛选热稳定性提高的弯曲芽孢杆菌Bacillus flexus CCTCC2015368β-淀粉酶突变体。利用LB琼脂淀粉板显色、96-孔板DNS法测酶活和酶标仪检测等,最终筛选到了一株热稳定性显著提高的突变体D476N。野生型和突变体D476N分别纯化后,酶学性质测定表明:突变体D476N的最适pH为6.5,与野生型相比降低了0.5。突变体D476N和野生型的最适温度均为55℃,突变体D476N在55℃下的半衰期为35 min,比野生型提高了95%。突变体D476N的T_(50)值比野生型提高4℃。突变体D476N的K_m值为97.98μmol/L,是野生型(85.86μmol/L)1.14倍;突变体稳定性提高的同时,催化活力相对于野生型有略微下降。通过SWISS-MODEL同源模拟野生型和突变体D476N的三维结构,并通过PyMol软件分析,发现突变后的氨基酸残基Asn476位于蛋白质表面的loop环上,通过MOE软件计算,D476N的分子自由能(ΔG)为106.01kcal/mol,比野生酶降低10.3%,这一结果与蛋白质分子自由能和热稳定性呈负相关的理论相符。     

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。     

荧光研究表明去辅基天青蛋白突变体M121L至少存在两种不同的构象

以往对绿脓杆菌去辅基天青蛋白变性机制的研究认为它经历了一个复杂的反应过程,相比之下,锌离子替代的天青蛋白的变性符合简单的二态模型。以脲为变性剂对去辅基天青蛋白突变体M121L的变性过程进行了研究。结果表明,虽然稳态条件下突变体的变性／复性符合二态模型,但其动力学过程复杂,并可用溶液中存在着两种可以相互转化的构象的变性／复性来解释。天然态N1去折叠的速度快,其重折叠的速度也快,N1的折叠机制可用存在着折叠途径上的快速折叠中间体模型来描述;天然态N2的去折叠速度慢,其重折叠主要是首先生成天然态N1,然后再缓慢地转化成N2。添加Zn^2 能够把两种构象整合成一种构象,相应地,Zn^2 替代的天青蛋白突变体的变性过程简化为单指数过程。对该突变体的研究加深了对天青蛋白去折叠机制的理解。     

胰岛素受体胞外区三维结构的模建及结构功能关系

利用计算机辅助分子设计技术模建了人胰岛素受体α亚基N端三个结构域的空间结构。实验研究证明胰岛素受体结合胰岛素的主要决定要素在这三个结构域,在模建的结构中,三个结构域围成了一个很大的开放的空洞,这个空洞的体积大小足以容纳一个胰岛素分子,这个空洞可能就是胰岛素受体与底物的作用的部位,另外,突变实验研究表明在胰岛素受体中有一个结合底物的“footprint”,由4个在一级结构上不连续的片段组成,从三维结构角度看,这4个片段中,有3个出现在邻近的平行折叠股,在我们的模型中,胰岛素受体分子中有一个两性表面,这个表面位于L1结构域,并且面向三个结构域围成的空洞,这个表面可能就是受体识别胰岛素和与底物发生初始作用的部位。“foot-print”和两性表面的大部分残基是相同的。     

肝癌细胞特异性结合单链抗体三维结构的同源模建

用MSI公司开发的计算机辅助分子设计系统模建肝癌细胞表面抗原特异性单链抗体三维结构。先分别模建VH(variable region of the heave chain)和VL(variable region of the light chain)两个结构域,然后搭建出scFv(single chain variable fragment)片段的整体三维结构,并对模建的结构进行分子力学和动力学优化;对结构的合理性验证显示模建结构是合理的。文章可为预测该特异性单链抗体的生物活性以及研制高亲和力、高特异性的双价抗体提供结构信息。     

融合蛋白ICOSIg的三维结构模建的研究

目的:利用结构相似性的序列比对来模建ICOSIg的三维结构,分析其可能的结合位点,为改造ICOSIg的突变体,提高其结合活性提供理论基础。方法:利用生物信息学手段分析ICOS所属CD28家族各成员分子的结构域,通过基于结构相似的序列比对,以空间结构已经得到解析的CTLA4为模板,利用同源模建的方法,模建ICOS膜外区的空间结构。进一步地以人IgG2和CTLA4为模板,模建了ICOSIg全长的空间结构。在此基础上,结合氨基酸特性,分析其可能的功能位点。结果:FDPPPF及KTKGSGN基序可能是ICOSIg的功能结合位点。结论:模建了ICOSIg的空间结构,分析了其可能结合位点,为突变ICOSIg提高其亲和力提供了线索。     

Relative Domain Folding and Stability of a Membrane Transport Protein

There is a limited understanding of the folding of multidomain membrane proteins. Lactose permease (LacY) of Escherichia coli is an archetypal member of the major facilitator superfamily of membrane transport proteins, which contain two domains of six transmembrane helices each. We exploit chemical denaturation to determine the unfolding free energy of LacY and employ Trp residues as site-specific thermodynamic probes. Single Trp LacY mutants are created with the individual Trps situated at mirror image positions on the two LacY domains. The changes in Trp fluorescence induced by urea denaturation are used to construct denaturation curves from which unfolding free energies can be determined. The majority of the single Trp tracers report the same stability and an unfolding free energy of approximately + 2 kcal mol^− 1. There is one exception; the fluorescence of W33 at the cytoplasmic end of helix I on the N domain is unaffected by urea. In contrast, the equivalent position on the first helix, VII, of the C-terminal domain exhibits wild-type stability, with the single Trp tracer at position 243 on helix VII reporting an unfolding free energy of + 2 kcal mol^− 1. This indicates that the region of the N domain of LacY at position 33 on helix I has enhanced stability to urea, when compared the corresponding location at the start of the C domain. We also find evidence for a potential network of stabilising interactions across the domain interface, which reduces accessibility to the hydrophilic substrate binding pocket between the two domains.     

Stability domains, substrate-induced conformational changes, and hinge-bending motions in a psychrophilic phosphoglycerate kinase. A microcalorimetric study

The cold-active phosphoglycerate kinase from the Antarctic bacterium Pseudomonas sp. TACII18 exhibits two distinct stability domains in the free, open conformation. It is shown that these stability domains do not match the structural N- and C-domains as the heat-stable domain corresponds to about 80 residues of the C-domain, including the nucleotide binding site, whereas the remaining of the protein contributes to the main heat-labile domain. This was demonstrated by spectroscopic and microcalorimetric analyses of the native enzyme, of its mutants, and of the isolated recombinant structural domains. It is proposed that the heat-stable domain provides a compact structure improving the binding affinity of the nucleotide, therefore increasing the catalytic efficiency at low temperatures. Upon substrate binding, the enzyme adopts a uniformly more stable closed conformation. Substrate-induced stability changes suggest that the free energy of ligand binding is converted into an increased conformational stability used to drive the hinge-bending motions and domain closure.     

Comparison of transition states obtained upon modeling of unfolding of immunoglobulin-binding domains of proteins L and G caused by external action with transition states obtained in the absence of force probed by experiments

We have studied the extent of coincidence of the pathway of unfolding of protein globules upon experimental modeling of protein unfolding caused by external actions and denaturants. To this end, we compared experimental Φ-values reported in the literature and Φ-values obtained by us upon modeling of unfolding of immunoglobulin-binding domains of proteins L and G caused by external actions at a constant rate. A comparison of the results of calculation with the experimental data shows that the folding pathways for protein L coincide, while those for protein G do not coincide despite structural similarity of these proteins.     

Comparison of heat- and pressure-induced unfolding of ribonuclease a: the critical role of Phe46 which appears to belong to a new hydrophobic chain-folding initiation site

To clarify the structural role of Phe46 inside the hydrophobic core of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A (RNase A), thermal and pressure unfolding of wild-type RNase A and three mutant forms (F46V, F46E, and F46K) were analyzed by fourth-derivative UV absorbance spectroscopy. All the mutants, as well as the wild type, exhibited a two-state transition during both thermal and pressure unfolding, and both T(m) and P(m) decreased markedly when Phe46 was replaced with valine, glutamic acid, or lysine. The strongest effect was on the F46K mutant and the weakest on F46V. Both unfolding processes produced identical blue shifts in the fourth-derivative spectra, indicating that the tyrosine residues are similarly exposed in the temperature- and pressure-induced unfolded states. A comparison of Gibbs free energies determined from the pressure and temperature unfoldings, however, gave DeltaG(p)/DeltaG(t) ratios (r) of 1.7 for the wild type and 0.92 +/- 0.03 for the mutants. Furthermore, the DeltaV value for each mutant was larger than that for the wild type. CD spectra and activity measurements showed no obvious major structural differences in the folded state, indicating that the structures of the Phe46 mutants and wild type differ in the unfolded state. We propose a model in which Phe46 stabilizes the hydrophobic core at the boundary between two structural domains. Mutation of Phe46 decreases protein stability by weakening the unfolding cooperativity between these domains. This essential function of Phe46 in RNase A stability indicates that it belongs to a chain-folding initiation site.     

Comparison between denaturant- and temperature-induced unfolding pathways of protein: a lattice Monte Carlo simulation

Denaturant-induced unfolding of protein is simulated by using a Monte Carlo simulation with a lattice model for protein and denaturant. Following the binding theory for denaturant-induced unfolding, the denaturant molecules are modeled to interact with protein by nearest-neighbor interactions. By analyzing the conformational states on the unfolding pathway of protein, the denaturant-induced unfolding pathway is compared with the temperature-induced unfolding pathway under the same condition; that is, the free energies of unfolding under two different pathways are equal. The two unfoldings show markedly different conformational distributions in unfolded states. From the calculation of the free energy of protein as a function of the number fraction (Q0) of native contacts relative to the total number of contacts, it is found that the free energy of the largely unfolded state corresponding to low Q0 (0.1 < Q0 < 0.5) under temperature-induced unfolding is lower than that under denaturant-induced unfolding, whereas the free energy of the unfolded state close to the native state (Q0 > 0.5) is lower in denaturant-induced unfolding than in temperature-induced unfolding. A comparison of two unfolding pathways reveals that the denaturant-induced unfolding shows a wider conformational distribution than the temperature-induced unfolding, while the temperature-induced unfolding shows a more compact unfolded state than the denaturant-induced unfolding especially in the low Q0 region (0.1 < Q0 < 0.5).     

Predicting repeat protein folding kinetics from an experimentally determined folding energy landscape

The Notch ankyrin domain is a repeat protein whose folding has been characterized through equilibrium and kinetic measurements. In previous work, equilibrium folding free energies of truncated constructs were used to generate an experimentally determined folding energy landscape (Mello and Barrick, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2004;101:14102–14107). Here, this folding energy landscape is used to parameterize a kinetic model in which local transition probabilities between partly folded states are based on energy values from the landscape. The landscape‐based model correctly predicts highly diverse experimentally determined folding kinetics of the Notch ankyrin domain and sequence variants. These predictions include monophasic folding and biphasic unfolding, curvature in the unfolding limb of the chevron plot, population of a transient unfolding intermediate, relative folding rates of 19 variants spanning three orders of magnitude, and a change in the folding pathway that results from C‐terminal stabilization. These findings indicate that the folding pathway(s) of the Notch ankyrin domain are thermodynamically selected: the primary determinants of kinetic behavior can be simply deduced from the local stability of individual repeats.     

Thermodynamic analysis of an antagonistic folding-unfolding equilibrium between two protein domains

A simple model is formulated for analyzing the coupled folding-unfolding equilibrium present in a unique class of molecular switch proteins. We previously fused two single-domain proteins, barnase and ubiquitin, such that the free energy stored in the folded structure of one subunit is used to drive unfolding of the other. Here, we present a thermodynamic test of that mechanism. The antagonistic interaction is represented by a coupling free energy term DeltaGX. DeltaGX is the penalty imposed on folding of one domain by the native structure of the other. If DeltaGX=0, then neither domain senses the other and they fold and unfold independently. If DeltaGX>0, then destabilizing one domain will stabilize the other, and vice versa. In the limit where DeltaGX is greater than the intrinsic stability of either protein, then only one domain can be folded at any given time. We estimate DeltaGX by measuring stability parameters for a series of mutants that destabilize either the barnase or ubiquitin domains. Fitting the data to the model leads to a DeltaGX value of approximately 4 kcal mol(-1). DeltaGX is proposed to depend on both the length of the linker peptides used to join the two proteins, and on the inherent structural plasticity of each domain. We predict that shortening the linkers from their current lengths of two and three amino acid residues will increase structural and thermodynamic coupling.     

Thermodynamic and kinetic stability of a large multi-domain enzyme from the hyperthermophile Aeropyrum pernix

The multi-domain enzyme isocitrate dehydrogenase from the hyperthermophile Aeropyrum pernix was studied by denaturant-induced unfolding. At pH 7.5, changes in circular dichroism ellipticity and intrinsic fluorescence showed a complex unfolding transition, whereas at pH 3.0, an apparently two-state and highly reversible unfolding occurred. Analytical ultracentrifugation revealed the dissociation from dimer to monomer at pH 3.0. The thermodynamic and kinetic stability were studied at pH 3.0 to explore the role of inter-domain interactions independently of inter-subunit interplay on the wild type and R211M, a mutant where a seven-membered inter-domain ionic network has been disrupted. The unfolding and folding transitions occurred at slightly different denaturant concentrations even after prolonged equilibration time. The difference between the folding and the unfolding profiles was decreased in the mutant R211M. The apparent Gibbs free energy decreased approximately 2 kcal/mol and the unfolding rate increased 4.3-fold in the mutant protein, corresponding to a decrease in activation free energy of unfolding of 0.86 kcal/mol. These results suggest that the inter-domain ionic network might be responsible for additional stabilization through a significant kinetic barrier in the unfolding pathway that could also explain the larger difference observed between the folding and unfolding transitions of the wild type.