Molecular modeling of the amyloid-{beta}-peptide using the homology to a fragment of triosephosphate isomerase that forms amyloid in vitro

The main component of the amyloid senile plaques found in Alzheimer'sbrain is the amyloid-ß-peptide (Aß), a proteolyticproduct of a membrane precursor protein. Previous structuralstudies have found different conformations for the Aßpeptide depending on the solvent and pH used. In general, theyhave suggested an -helix conformation at the N-terminal domainand a ß-sheet conformation for the C-terminal domain.The structure of the complete Aß peptide (residues 1–40)solved by NMR has revealed that only helical structure is presentin Aß. However, this result cannot explain the large ß-sheetAß aggregates known to form amyloid under physiologicalconditions. Therefore, we investigated the structure of Aßby molecular modeling based on extensive homology using theSmith and Waterman algorithm implemented in the MPsrch program(Blitz server). The results showed a mean value of 23% identitywith selected sequences. Since these values do not allow a clearhomology to be established with a reference structure in orderto perform molecular modeling studies, we searched for detailedhomology. A 28% identity with an /ß segment of a triosephosphateisomerase (TIM) from Culex tarralis with an unsolved three-dimensionalstructure was obtained. Then, multiple sequence alignment wasperformed considering Aß, TIM from C.tarralis and anotherfive TIM sequences with known three-dimensional structures.We found a TIM segment with secondary structure elements inagreement with previous experimental data for Aß. Moreover,when a synthetic peptide from this TIM segment was studied invitro, it was able to aggregate and to form amyloid fibrils,as established by Congo red binding and electron microscopy.The Aß model obtained was optimized by molecular dynamicsconsidering ionizable side chains in order to simulate Aßin a neutral pH environment. We report here the structural implicationsof this study.     

Structural effects induced by removal of a disulfide-bridge: the X-ray structure of the C30A/C51A mutant of basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor at 1.6 A

The X-ray structure of a variant of basic pancreatic trypsininhibitor (BPTI) has been analyzed to determine the structuralaccommodation resulting from removal of a disulfide crosslinkin a protein. The disulfide removed, Cys30–Cys51, hasbeen implicated in both the folding pathway of the protein andits overall thermal stability. In the variant studied, C30A/C51A,the disulfide cysteines were replaced by less bulky alanines.The atomic displacements observed for C30A/C51A indicate a setof concerted shifts of two segments of chain, which togethersignificantly diminish a packing defect at the site of the removedcysteine sulfur atoms. The observed structural changes are distributedasymmetrically around the sites of mutation, indicating thatthe adjacent ß-sheet is more resistant to the perturbationthan the -helix on the opposite side of the disulfide bond.The thermal parameters of groups involved in the structuralaccommodation are not significantly altered. A comparison ofthe X-ray structures reported for native BPTI determined inthree different crystal forms indicates that the magnitude ofits conformational variability exceeds that of the structuralchanges caused by the disulfide removal. This emphasizes thenecessity of using isomorphous crystal systems to determinethe relatively small effects due to mutation.     

Solution conformations of human growth hormone releasing factor: comparison of the restrained molecular dynamics and distance geometry methods for a system without long-range distance data

A series of three-dimensional structures of the 1–29 fragmentof human growth hormone releasing factor in trifluoroethanolhave been determined by molecular dynamics and distance geometrymethods. The resulting structures satisfy information from nuclearOverhauser effect (NOE) distance data and an empirical potentialenergy function. Although the polypeptide was found to havean ordered structure in all simulations, the NOE data were notsufficient for global convergence to a unique three-dimensionalgeometry. Several satisfactory structures have been determined,all of which are extended conformations consisting of a shortß-strand and two -helices (residues 6–13 andresidues 16–29) connected by short segments of less welldefined secondary structure. Because of the lack of NOE dataconnecting the helix segments, their relative orientation isnot uniquely determined.     

Model building of disulfide bonds in proteins with known three-dimensional structure

As an aid in the selection of sites in a protein where a disulfidebond might be engineered, a computer program has been developed.The algorithm starts with the generation of Cß positionsfrom the N, C and C atom coordinates available from a three-dimensionalmodel. A first set of residue pairs that might form a disulfidebond is selected on the basis of Cß–Cßdistances between residues. Then, for each residue in this set,S positions are generated, which satisfy the requirement that,with ideal values for the C–Cß and Cß–Sbond lengths and for the bond angle at Cß, the distancebetween S of residue 1 and Cß of residue 2 in a pair(determined by the bond angle at S2) is at, or very close toits ideal value. Usually two acceptable S positions are foundfor each half cystine, resulting in up to four different conformationsfor the disulfide bond. Finally, these conformations are subjectedto an energy minimization procedure to remove large deviationsfrom ideal geometry and their final energies are calculated.User input determines which final conformations are energeticallyacceptable. These conformations are written to a file to allowfurther analysis and e.g. inspection on a computer graphicsdevice.     

Native-like {beta}-hairpin structure in an isolated fragment from ferredoxin: NMR and CD studies of solvent effects on the N-terminal 20 residues

The conformational properties of protein fragments have beenwidely studied as models of the earliest initiation events inprotein folding. While native-like -helices and ß-turnshave been identified, less is known about the factors that underlyß-sheet formation, in particular ß-hairpins,where considerably greater long-range order is required. TheN-terminal 20 residue sequence of native ferredoxin I (fromthe blue-green alga Aphanothece sacrum ) forms a ß-hairpinin the native structure and has been studied in isolation byNMR and CD spectroscopy. Local native-like interactions aloneare unable to stabilize significantly a folded conformationof the 20-residue fragment in purely aqueous solution. However,we show that the addition of low levels of organic co-solventspromotes formation of native-like ß-hairpin structure.The results suggest an intrinsic propensity of the peptide toform a native-like ß-hairpin structure, and that theorganic co-solvent acts in lieu of the stabilizing influenceof tertiary interactions (probably hydrophobic contacts) whichoccur in the folding of the complete ferredoxin sequence. Thestructure of the isolated hairpin, including the native-likeregister of interstrand hydrogen bonding interactions, appearsto be determined entirely by the amino acid sequence. The solventconditions employed have enabled this intrinsic property tobe established.     

DNA recognition by a {beta}-sheet

DNA recognition by a ß-sheet is discussed in the lightof crystal structures of the MetJ and Arc repressors. The DNAbinding geometry of a ß-sheet can be understood interms of (i) close fitting of the two surfaces and (ii) matchingof residue and base positions. A ß-sheet is not entirelyflat but has a curvature. A ß-sheet of the Met-Arcfamily faces the DNA major groove with its convex surface; thelocal DNA major groove is deepest at the centre. The ß-sheetfollows 6 bp; every two residues face the DNA and the firstand fifth residues, which are separated by 13.2 Å, bind,respectively, to the third and sixth bases, which are separatedby 13.5 Å, on the same DNA strand.     

The determination of the three-dimensional structure of barley serine proteinase inhibitor 2 by nuclear magnetic resonance, distance geometry and restrained molecular dynamics

The solution structure of the 64 residue structured domain (residues20–83) of barley serine proteinase inhibitor 2 (BSPI-2)is determined on the basis of 403 interproton distance, 34 øbackbone torsion angle and 26 hydrogen bonding restraints derivedfrom n.m.r. measurements. A total of 11 converged structureswere computed using a metric matrix distance geometry algorithmand refined by restrained molecular dynamics. The average rmsdifference between the final 11 structures and the mean structureobtained by averaging their coordinates is 1.4±0.2 Åfor the backbone atoms and 2.1±0.1 A for all atoms. Theoverall structure, which is almost identical to that found byX-ray crystallography, is disc shaped and consists of a centralfour component mixed parallel and antiparallel ß-sheetflanked by a 13 residue helix on one side and the reactivesite loop on the other.     

Structural models of the evolutionarily conservative central domain of silk-moth chorion proteins

Silk-moth chorion proteins belong to a small number of families:A, B, C, Hc-A and Hc-B. The central domain is an evolutionarilyconservative region in each family, of variable length and compositionbetween families. This domain shows dear 6-fold periodicitiesfor various amino acid residues, e.g. glycine. The periodicities,together with the well-documented prevalence of ß-sheetand ß-turn secondary structure of chorion proteins,strongly support a structural model in which four-residue ß-strandsalternate with ß-turns, forming a compact antiparallel,probably twisted ß-sheet. Conformational analysis,aided by interactive graphics refinement and recent experimentalfindings, further suggest that this structure consists of ß-strands,alternating with I' and II' ß-turns, and apparentlyforms the basis for the molecular and supramolecular assemblyof chorion.     

A multivariate analysis method for discriminating protein secondary structural segments

Using discriminant analysis, three types of protein secondarystructure segments—helices, ß-strands and coils—arediscriminated by amino acid sequence information alone. A variablein the discriminant analysis is defined by the amino acid indexused to represent the sequence data and by the calculation methodused to extract a feature in this representation. Thus, thethree types of secondary structure segments derived from a setof non-homologous proteins from the Protein Data Bank are analyzedby 888 variables, which correspond to the mean, standard deviation,3.6-residue periodicity and 2-residue periodicity for the numericalprofiles determined from 222 published amino acid indices. Thesevariables are combined to obtain best discrimination of thethree types of segments. When up to three variables are combined,the best discrimination rate was 75%. The variables selectedconsist of the mean of propensity (or turn propensity), themean of ß propensity, and the 3.6-residue periodicityof hydrophobicity. This variable selection procedure can alsobe applied to other types of discrimination problem, once groupsof sequence data are properly organized.     

Spectroscopic investigation of structure in octarellin (a de novo protein designed to adopt the {alpha}/{beta}-barred packing)

We present here a spectroscopic structural characterizationof octarellin, a recently reported de novo protein modelledon /ß-barrel proteins [K. Go raj, A.Renard and J.A.Martial(1990) Protein Engng, 3, 259–266]. Infrared and Ramanspectra analyses of octarellin‘s secondary structure revealthe expected percentage of -helices (30%) and a higher ß-sheetcontent (40%) than predicted from the design. When the Ramanspectra obtained with octarellin and native triosephosphateisomerase (a natural /ß-barrel) are compared, similarpercentages of secondary structures are found. Thermal denaturationof octarellin monitored by CD confirms that its secondary structuresare quite stable, whereas its native-like tertiary fold is not.Tyrosine residues, predicted to be partially hidden from solvent,are actually exposed as revealed by Raman and UV absorptionspectra. We conclude that the attempted /ß-barrelconformation in octarellin may be loosely packed. The criteriaused to design octarellin are discussed and improvements suggested.     

A method for computational combinatorial peptide design of inhibitors of Ras protein

A computational combinatorial approach is proposed for the designof a peptide inhibitor of Ras protein. The procedure involvesthree steps. First, a `Multiple Copy Simultaneous Search' identifiesthe location of specific functional groups on the Ras surface.This search method allowed us to identify an important bindingsurface consisting of two ß strands (residues 5–8and 52–56), in addition to the well known Ras effectorloop and switch II region. The two ß strands had not previouslybeen reported to be involved in Ras–Raf interaction. Second,after constructing the peptide inhibitor chain based on thelocation of N-methylacetamide (NMA) minima, functional groupsare selected and connected to the main chain C atom. This stepgenerates a number of possible peptides with different sequenceson the Ras surface. Third, potential inhibitors are designedbased on a sequence alignment of the peptides generated in thesecond step. This computational approach reproduces the conservedpattern of hydrophobic, hydrophilic and charged amino acidsidentified from the Ras effectors. The advantages and limitationsof this approach are discussed.     

Aspartic acid 50 and tyrosine 108 are essential for receptor binding and cytotoxic activity of tumour necrosis factor beta (lymphotoxin)

Single amino acid substitutions were generated in predictedhydrophilic loop regions of the human tumour necrosis factorbeta (TNF-ß) molecule, and the mutant proteins wereexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified. Mutants with singleamino acid changes at either of two distinct loop regions, atpositions aspartic acid 50 or tyrosine 108, were found to havegreatly reduced receptor binding and cytotoxic activity. Thesetwo regions in TNF-ß correspond to known loop regionswhere mutations also result in loss of biological activity ofTNF–, a related cytokine which shares the same cellularreceptors with TNF-ß. The two distinct loops at positions31-34 and 84-89 in the known three-dimensional structure ofTNF- (equivalent to positions 46–50 and 105–110respectively in TNF-ß), lie on opposite sides of theTNF- monomer. When the TNF-a monomer forms a trimer, the twoloops, each from a different subunit of the trimer, come togetherand lie in a cleft between adjacent subunits. Together, thesefindings suggest that a TNF receptor binds to a cleft betweensubunits via surface loops at amino acid residues 31–34and 84–89 in TNF–, and similarly via surface loopsincluding amino acids aspartic acid 50 and tyrosine 108 in TNF–ß.     

Protein engineering loops in aspartic proteinases: site-directed mutagenesis, biochemical characterization and X-ray analysis of chymosin with a replaced loop from rhizopuspepsin

The loop exchange mutant chymosm 155–164 rhizopuspepsinwas expressed in Trichoderma reesei and exported into the mediumto yield a correctly folded and active product. The biochemicalcharacterization and crystal structure determination at 2.5Å resolution confirm that the mutant enzyme adopts a nativefold. However, the conformation of the mutated loop is unlikethat in native rhizopuspepsin and involves the chelation ofa water molecule in the loop. Kinetic analysis using two syntheticpeptide substrates (six and 15 residues long) and the naturalsubstrate, milk, revealed a reduction in the activity of themutant enzyme with respect to the native when acting on boththe long peptide substrate and milk. This may be a consequenceof the different charge distribution of the mutated loop, itsincreased size and/or its different conformation.     

The solution structure and conformational dynamics of tumor necrosis factor-{alpha} and a (Cys69 - Asp; Cys101 - Arg) analog as examined by IR spectroscopy and hydrogen exchange

An analog of human tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-) was createdwith Cys69 and CyslOl replaced with Asp and Arg respectively.We have undertaken a comparative study of the solution conformationand dynamics of the native and analog molecules using a combinationof Fourier transform IR spectroscopy and hydrogen-deuterium(H-D) exchange kinetics. IR spectroscopic results indicate thatthe analog molecule adopts a gross structure similar to thatof the native molecule but significant differences in the conformationof the ß-sheets are observed. Increased bandwidthsobserved for several of the amide I components also suggesta less rigid structure for the analog molecule. Further, bymonitoring the frequency shifts of the individual amide I componentbands as a function of hydrogen exchange, we have enhanced ourability to assign these components to individual protein secondarystructures, particularly the high frequency ß-strandmode. Hydrogen exchange kinetic studies indicate that the Asp–Arganalog adopts a looser, more flexible solution structure relativeto the natural sequence molecule.     

Secondary structure prediction: combination of three different methods

A combination of three complementary secondary structure predictionmethods is presented. The methods used are the GOR III method,the Homologue method and a new method, the bit pattern method,which is based on hydrophilic/hydrophobic residue patterns.For this purpose a hydropathy scale was developed and is presentedhere. The combination algorithm (Combine method) was designedto take the best results of each method and use their differencesin order to improve the prediction. The combination yields 65.5%correctly predicted residues in three states: -helix (H), ß-strand(E) and aperiodic structure (C) which is an improvement rangingfrom 2.5 to 6.5% compared with the individual methods when testedwith a 67-polypeptide chain database. Seventy-five per centof the regular secondary structure (H and E) runs are correctlylocated and ß-sheet runs are much better located bythe Combine method in comparison to the other methods.     

Solution structure and dynamics of a serpin reactive site loop using interleukin 1 as a presentation scaffold

Human interleukin-1ß (IL1ß) was used as a presentationscaffold for the characterization of the reactive site loop(RSL) of the serpin 1-antitrypsin (A1AT), the physiologicalinhibitor of leukocyte elastase. A chimeric protein was generatedby replacement of residues 50–53 of IL1ß, correspondingto an exposed reverse turn in IL1ß, with the 10-residueP5-P5' sequence EAIPMSIPPE from A1AT. The chimera (antitrypsin-interleukin,AT-IL) inhibits elastase specifically and also binds the IL1ßreceptor. Multinuclear NMR characterization of AT-IL establishedthat, with the exception of the inserted sequence, the structureof the IL1ß scaffold is preserved in the chimera. Thestructure of the inserted RSL was analyzed relative to thatof the isolated 10-residue RSL peptide, which was shown to beessentially disordered in solution. The chimeric RSL was alsofound to be solvent exposed and conformationally mobile in comparisonwith the IL1ß scaffold, and there was no evidence of persistinginteractions with the scaffold outside of the N- and C-terminallinkages. However, AT-IL exhibits sigificant differences inchemical shift and NOE patterns relative to the isolated RSLthat are consistent with local features of non-random structure.The proximity of these features to the P1-P1' residues suggeststhat they may be responsible for the inhibitory activity ofthe chimera.     

The cystine knot of a squash-type protease inhibitor as a structural scaffold for Escherichia coli cell surface display of conformationally constrained peptides

The Ecballium elaterium trypsin inhibitor II (EETI-II), a memberof the squash family of protease inhibitors, is composed of28 amino acid residues and is a potent inhibitor of trypsin.Its compact structure is defined by a triple-stranded antiparallelß-sheet, which is held together by three intramoleculardisulfide bonds forming a cystine knot. In order to explorethe potential of the EETI-II peptide to serve as a structuralscaffold for the presentation of randomized oligopeptides, weconstructed two EETI-II derivatives, where the six-residue inhibitorloop was replaced by a 13-residue epitope of Sendai virus L-proteinand by a 17-residue epitope from human bone Gla-protein. EETI-IIand derived variants were produced via fusion to maltose bindingprotein MalE. By secretion of the fusion into the periplasmicspace, fully oxidized and correctly folded EETI-II was obtainedin high yield. EETI-II and derived variants could be presentedon the Escherichia coli outer membrane by fusion to truncatedLpp'–OmpA', which comprises the first nine residues ofmature lipoprotein plus the membrane spanning ß-strandfrom residues 46–66 of OmpA protein. Gene expression wasunder control of the strong and tightly regulated tetA promoter/operator.Cell viability was found to be drastically reduced by high levelexpression of Lpp'–OmpA'–EETI-II fusion protein.To restore cell viability, net accumulation of fusion proteinin the outer membrane was reduced to a tolerable level by introductionof an amber codon at position 9 of the lpp' sequence and utilizingan amber suppressor strain as expression host. Cells expressingEETI-II variants containing an epitope were shown to be surfacelabeled with the respective monoclonal antibody by indirectimmunofluorescence corroborating the cell surface exposure ofthe epitope sequences embedded in the EETI-II cystine knot scaffold.Cells displaying a particular epitope sequence could be enriched10⁷-fold by combining magnetic cell sorting with fluorescence-activatedcell sorting. These results demonstrate that E.coli cell surfacedisplay of conformationally constrained peptides tethered tothe EETI-II cystine knot scaffold has the potential to becomean effective technique for the rapid isolation of small peptidemolecules from combinatorial libraries that bind with high affinityto acceptor molecules.     

1.85 A structure of anti-fluorescein 4-4-20 Fab

The crystal complex of fluorescein bound to the high-affinityanti-fluorescein 4-4-20 Fab {K_a = 10¹⁰ M^–1 at 2°C)has been determined at 1.85 Å. Isomorphous crystals oftwo isoelectric forms (p1 = 7.5 and 7.9) of the antifluorescein4-4-20 Fab, an IgG2A [Gibson et al (1988)Proteins: Struct. FunctGenet., 3, 155–160], have been grown. Both complexes crystallizewith one molecule in the asymmetric unit in space group P1,with a = 42.75 Å, b =43.87 Å, c = 58.17 Å, = 95.15° , ß = 86.85° and = 98.01°.The final structure has an R value of 0.188 at 1.85 Åresolution. Interactions between bound fluorescein, the complementarity-determiningregions (CDRs) of the Fab and the active-site mutants of the4-4-20 single-chain Fv will be discussed. Differences were foundbetween the structure reported here and the previously reported2.7 Å 4-4-20 Fab structure [Herron et al. (1989) Proteins:Struct. Fund., 5, 271–280]. Our structure determinationwas based on 26 328 unique reflections — four times theamount of data used in the previous report. Differences in thetwo structures could be explained by differences in interpretingthe electron density maps at the various resolutions. The r.m.s.deviations between the variable and constant domains of thetwo structures were 0.77 and 1.54 Å, respectively. Fourregions of the light chain and four regions of the heavy chainhad r.m.s. backbone deviations of >4 Å. The most significantof these was the conformation of the light chain CDR 1.     

Modeling the intact form of the {alpha}1-proteinase inhibitor

The structure of the intact form of the serpin ₁-proteinaseinhibitor has been modeled based on the assumption that thecentral strand s4A of the six-stranded ß-sheet A ofthe cleaved inhibitor is not incorporated into the sheet ofintact ₁-proteinase inhibitor. This strand was removed fromits position in the center of the sheet by suitable rotationsabout the backbone dihedrals of Lys343 using molecular graphics.The resulting structure was then annealed using molecular dynamics(MD) while applying progressive distance restraints to the reactivepeptide bond (Met358-Ser359) for 50 ps. During this time, thedisrupted ß-sheet reformed to create a five-strandedß-sheet with strands 3 and 5 in a parallel arrangement.This change and accompanying structural rearrangements are largelyconfirmed by the X-ray structure of plakalbumin, whose structurereflects the overall structure of intact serpins. The successfulmodeling experiment demonstrates the utility of MD for makinggross structural predictions based on related structures. Thebinding loop of the intact form is modeled to allow dockingwith serine proteinases, in particular thrombin, which mosthighly constrains the possible conformations of the bindingloop.