HostDesigner:  A Program for the de Novo Structure-Based Design of Molecular Receptors with Binding Sites that Complement Metal Ion Guests

2002 ◽  
Vol 41 (21) ◽  
pp. 5502-5512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin P. Hay ◽  
Timothy K. Firman
2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunseli Bayram Akcapinar ◽  
Osman Ugur Sezerman

Metal ions play pivotal roles in protein structure, function and stability. The functional and structural diversity of proteins in nature expanded with the incorporation of metal ions or clusters in proteins. Approximately one-third of these proteins in the databases contain metal ions. Many biological and chemical processes in nature involve metal ion-binding proteins, aka metalloproteins. Many cellular reactions that underpin life require metalloproteins. Most of the remarkable, complex chemical transformations are catalysed by metalloenzymes. Realization of the importance of metal-binding sites in a variety of cellular events led to the advancement of various computational methods for their prediction and characterization. Furthermore, as structural and functional knowledgebase about metalloproteins is expanding with advances in computational and experimental fields, the focus of the research is now shifting towards de novo design and redesign of metalloproteins to extend nature’s own diversity beyond its limits. In this review, we will focus on the computational toolbox for prediction of metal ion-binding sites, de novo metalloprotein design and redesign. We will also give examples of tailor-made artificial metalloproteins designed with the computational toolbox.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Feehan ◽  
Meghan W. Franklin ◽  
Joanna S. G. Slusky

AbstractMetalloenzymes are 40% of all enzymes and can perform all seven classes of enzyme reactions. Because of the physicochemical similarities between the active sites of metalloenzymes and inactive metal binding sites, it is challenging to differentiate between them. Yet distinguishing these two classes is critical for the identification of both native and designed enzymes. Because of similarities between catalytic and non-catalytic  metal binding sites, finding physicochemical features that distinguish these two types of metal sites can indicate aspects that are critical to enzyme function. In this work, we develop the largest structural dataset of enzymatic and non-enzymatic metalloprotein sites to date. We then use a decision-tree ensemble machine learning model to classify metals bound to proteins as enzymatic or non-enzymatic with 92.2% precision and 90.1% recall. Our model scores electrostatic and pocket lining features as more important than pocket volume, despite the fact that volume is the most quantitatively different feature between enzyme and non-enzymatic sites. Finally, we find our model has overall better performance in a side-to-side comparison against other methods that differentiate enzymatic from non-enzymatic sequences. We anticipate that our model’s ability to correctly identify which metal sites are responsible for enzymatic activity could enable identification of new enzymatic mechanisms and de novo enzyme design.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 905-910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruoyu Liu ◽  
Kun Wang ◽  
Jun Liu ◽  
Wenjie Xu ◽  
Yang Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract Cold seeps, characterized by the methane, hydrogen sulfide, and other hydrocarbon chemicals, foster one of the most widespread chemosynthetic ecosystems in deep sea that are densely populated by specialized benthos. However, scarce genomic resources severely limit our knowledge about the origin and adaptation of life in this unique ecosystem. Here, we present a genome of a deep-sea limpet Bathyacmaea lactea, a common species associated with the dominant mussel beds in cold seeps. We yielded 54.6 gigabases (Gb) of Nanopore reads and 77.9-Gb BGI-seq raw reads, respectively. Assembly harvested a 754.3-Mb genome for B. lactea, with 3,720 contigs and a contig N50 of 1.57 Mb, covering 94.3% of metazoan Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs. In total, 23,574 protein-coding genes and 463.4 Mb of repetitive elements were identified. We analyzed the phylogenetic position, substitution rate, demographic history, and TE activity of B. lactea. We also identified 80 expanded gene families and 87 rapidly evolving Gene Ontology categories in the B. lactea genome. Many of these genes were associated with heterocyclic compound metabolism, membrane-bounded organelle, metal ion binding, and nitrogen and phosphorus metabolism. The high-quality assembly and in-depth characterization suggest the B. lactea genome will serve as an essential resource for understanding the origin and adaptation of life in the cold seeps.


1995 ◽  
Vol 305 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Spencer ◽  
P M Jordan

Experiments are described in which the individual properties of the two 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA) binding sites, the A-site and the P-site, of 5-aminolaevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) have been investigated. The ALA binding affinity at the A-site is greatly enhanced (at least 10-fold) on the binding of the catalytic metal ion (bound at the alpha-site). The nature of the catalytic metal ion, Mg2+ or Zn2+, also gave major variations in the substrate Km, P-site affinity for ALA, the effect of potassium and phosphate ions and the pH-dependence of substrate binding. Modification of the P-site by reaction of the enzyme-substrate Schiff base with NaBH4 and analysis of the reduced adduct by electro-spray mass spectrometry indicated a maximum of 1 mol of substrate incorporated/mol of subunit, correlating with a linear loss of enzyme activity. The reduced Schiff-base adduct was used to investigate substrate binding at the A-site by using rate-of-dialysis analysis. The affinity for ALA at the A-site of Mg alpha Zn beta ALAD was found to determine the Km for the reaction and was pH-dependent, with its affinity increasing from 1 mM at pH 6 to 70 microM at pH 8.5. The affinity of ALA at the P-site of Zn alpha An beta ALAD is proposed to limit the Km at pH values above 7, since the measured Kd for ALA at the A-site in 45 microM Tris, pH 8, was well below the observed Km (600 microM) under the same conditions. The amino group of the ALA molecule bound at the P-site was identified as a critical binding component for the A-site, explaining why ALA binding to ALAD is ordered, with the P-site ALA binding first. Structural requirements for ALA binding at the A- and P-sites have been identified: the P-site requires the carbonyl and carboxylate groups, whereas the A-site requires the amino, carbonyl and carboxylate groups of the substrate.


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (32) ◽  
pp. 22254-22265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Hitzenberger ◽  
Thomas S. Hofer

The interaction of metal ions with Shh binding-sites and their structural impact are assessed via classical and quantum mechanical simulations.


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (23) ◽  
pp. 8117-8128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Grossi ◽  
Alessandro Bianchi ◽  
Pascal Damay ◽  
David Shore

ABSTRACT Rap1p, the major telomere repeat binding protein in yeast, has been implicated in both de novo telomere formation and telomere length regulation. To characterize the role of Rap1p in these processes in more detail, we studied the generation of telomeres in vivo from linear DNA substrates containing defined arrays of Rap1p binding sites. Consistent with previous work, our results indicate that synthetic Rap1p binding sites within the internal half of a telomeric array are recognized as an integral part of the telomere complex in an orientation-independent manner that is largely insensitive to the precise spacing between adjacent sites. By extending the lengths of these constructs, we found that several different Rap1p site arrays could never be found at the very distal end of a telomere, even when correctly oriented. Instead, these synthetic arrays were always followed by a short (≈100-bp) “cap” of genuine TG repeat sequence, indicating a remarkably strict sequence requirement for an end-specific function(s) of the telomere. Despite this fact, even misoriented Rap1p site arrays promote telomere formation when they are placed at the distal end of a telomere-healing substrate, provided that at least a single correctly oriented site is present within the array. Surprisingly, these heterogeneous arrays of Rap1p binding sites generate telomeres through a RAD52-dependent fusion resolution reaction that results in an inversion of the original array. Our results provide new insights into the nature of telomere end capping and reveal one way by which recombination can resolve a defect in this process.


2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (9) ◽  
pp. 1500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam J. Bradbury ◽  
Stephen F. Lincoln ◽  
Kevin P. Wainwright

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document