Structural biology and structure–function relationships of membrane proteins

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosana Reis ◽  
Isabel Moraes
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Proteins ◽  
Structure Function ◽  
Structural Biology ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Technical Advances ◽  
Medical Importance ◽  
G Protein Coupled ◽  
Important Drug

Abstract The study of structure–function relationships of membrane proteins (MPs) has been one of the major goals in the field of structural biology. Many Noble Prizes regarding remarkable accomplishments in MP structure determination and biochemistry have been awarded over the last few decades. Mutations or improper folding of these proteins are associated with numerous serious illnesses. Therefore, as important drug targets, the study of their primary sequence and three-dimensional fold, combined with cell-based assays, provides vital information about their structure–function relationships. Today, this information is vital to drug discovery and medicine. In the last two decades, many have been the technical advances and breakthroughs in the field of MP structural biology that have contributed to an exponential growth in the number of unique MP structures in the Protein Data Bank. Nevertheless, given the medical importance and many unanswered questions, it will never be an excess of MP structures, regardless of the method used. Owing to the extension of the field, in this brief review, we will only focus on structure–function relationships of the three most significant pharmaceutical classes: G protein-coupled receptors, ion channels and transporters.

scholarly journals Protein dynamics revealed by NMR relaxation methods

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fa-An Chao ◽  
R. Andrew Byrd
Keyword(s):  
Protein Dynamics ◽  
Structural Biology ◽  
Dynamic Models ◽  
Dimensional Space ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Biological Macromolecules ◽  
Relaxation Methods ◽  
Genomic Databases ◽  
Wide Range

Structural biology often focuses primarily on three-dimensional structures of biological macromolecules, deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). This resource is a remarkable entity for the worldwide scientific and medical communities, as well as the general public, as it is a growing translation into three-dimensional space of the vast information in genomic databases, e.g. GENBANK. There is, however, significantly more to understanding biological function than the three-dimensional co-ordinate space for ground-state structures of biomolecules. The vast array of biomolecules experiences natural dynamics, interconversion between multiple conformational states, and molecular recognition and allosteric events that play out on timescales ranging from picoseconds to seconds. This wide range of timescales demands ingenious and sophisticated experimental tools to sample and interpret these motions, thus enabling clearer insights into functional annotation of the PDB. NMR spectroscopy is unique in its ability to sample this range of timescales at atomic resolution and in physiologically relevant conditions using spin relaxation methods. The field is constantly expanding to provide new creative experiments, to yield more detailed coverage of timescales, and to broaden the power of interpretation and analysis methods. This review highlights the current state of the methodology and examines the extension of analysis tools for more complex experiments and dynamic models. The future for understanding protein dynamics is bright, and these extended tools bring greater compatibility with developments in computational molecular dynamics, all of which will further our understanding of biological molecular functions. These facets place NMR as a key component in integrated structural biology.

scholarly journals Are GPCRs Still a Source of New Targets?

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 947-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen L. Garland
Keyword(s):  
Drug Targets ◽  
Protein Complexes ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Peptide Family ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Family ◽  
Receptor Pharmacology ◽  
Technical Advances ◽  
Allosteric Mechanisms ◽  
G Protein Coupled

G-protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) still offer enormous scope for new therapeutic targets. Currently marketed agents are dominated by those with activity at aminergic receptors and yet they account for only ~10% of the family. Progress up until now with other subfamilies, notably orphans, Family A/peptide, Family A/lipid, Family B, Family C, and Family F, has been, at best, patchy. This may be attributable to the heterogeneous nature of GPCRs, their endogenous ligands, and consequently their binding sites. Our appreciation of receptor similarity has arguably been too simplistic, and screening collections have not necessarily been well suited to identifying leads in new areas. Despite the relative shortage of high-quality tool molecules in a number of cases, there is an emerging, and increasingly substantial, body of evidence associating many as yet “undrugged” receptors with a very wide range of diseases. Significant advances in our understanding of receptor pharmacology and technical advances in screening, protein X-ray crystallography, and ligand design methods are paving the way for new successes in the area. Exploitation of allosteric mechanisms; alternative signaling pathways such as G12/13, Gβγ, and β-arrestin; the discovery of “biased” ligands; and the emergence of GPCR-protein complexes as potential drug targets offer scope for new and much improved drugs.

Database Study on the Expression and Purification of Membrane Proteins

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen-Yan china Zhang ◽  
Shi-Qi Zhao ◽  
Shi-Long Zhang ◽  
Li-Heng Luo ◽  
Ding-Chang Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Proteins ◽  
Membrane Protein ◽  
Protein Expression ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Expression System ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Hek293 Cells ◽  
Expression And Purification ◽  
Beta Barrel ◽  
Membrane Protein Expression

: Membrane proteins are crucial for biological processes, and many of them are important to drug targets. Understanding the three-dimensional structures of membrane proteins are essential to evaluate their bio function and drug design. High-purity membrane proteins are important for structural determination. Membrane proteins have low yields and are difficult to purify because they tend to aggregate. We summarized membrane protein expression systems, vectors, tags, and detergents, which have deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) in recent four-and-a-half years. Escherichia coli is the most expression system for membrane proteins, and HEK293 cells are the most commonly cell lines for human membrane protein expression. The most frequently vectors are pFastBac1 for alpha-helical membrane proteins, pET28a for beta-barrel membrane proteins, and pTRC99a for monotopic membrane proteins. The most used tag for membrane proteins is the 6×His-tag. FLAG commonly used for alpha-helical membrane proteins, Strep and GST for beta-barrel and monotopic membrane proteins, respectively. The detergents and their concentrations used for alpha-helical, beta-barrel, and monotopic membrane proteins are different, and DDM is commonly used for membrane protein purification. It can guide the expression and purification of membrane proteins, thus contributing to their structure and bio function studying.

scholarly journals THEORETICAL APPROACH ON TARGETING PLANT FUNGAL PATHOGENIC PROTEINS AGAINST NATURALLY ISOLATED COMPOUNDS FROM CHITINIPHILUS SHINANONENSIS

2019 ◽  
pp. 138-142
Author(s):  
KRITHIKA S ◽  
CHELLARAM C
Keyword(s):  
Drug Targets ◽  
Fungal Pathogens ◽  
Interaction Analysis ◽  
Pathogenic Fungus ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Asiatic Acid ◽  
Literature Study

Objective: The objective of this study was to find the potency and bioefficacy of Asiatic acid and triterpene against four different plant fungal pathogens using a structure-based drug designing approach. Methods: The pathogenic fungus which causes a dreadful effect on plants is reviewed from literature study, and its three-dimensional structures are retrieved from the protein data bank database. On the other hand, ligands are prepared. Finally, prepared fungal drug targets are docked with naturally isolated compounds using AutoDock tools. Results: Both compounds Asiatic acid and triterpene structures are complementary to bind at the active site of four different drug targets. Comparatively, it is more favorable for Avr2 effector protein from Fusarium oxysporum with Ki value of 126.60 μM, 1.76 μM, and dock score value of −5.32 kcal/mol and −7.85 kcal/mol for Asiatic acid and triterpene, respectively. Thus, interaction analysis was carried out only for these protein-ligand complexes. Conclusion: The computational biology study states that these two compounds can be the lead candidate for treating disease caused by plant fungal pathogen F. oxysporum. However, further study has to be done in vitro and in vivo to prove its same efficacy.

Improving extraction and post-purification concentration of membrane proteins

The Analyst ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 143 (6) ◽  
pp. 1378-1386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasin Feroz ◽  
HyeYoung Kwon ◽  
Jing Peng ◽  
Hyeonji Oh ◽  
Bryan Ferlez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Membrane Proteins ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Functional Protein ◽  
High Yields ◽  
Important Drug

Membrane proteins (MPs), despite being critically important drug targets for the pharmaceutical industry, are difficult to study due to challenges in obtaining high yields of functional protein.

scholarly journals Machine Learning for Prioritization of Thermostabilizing Mutations for G-protein Coupled Receptors

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Muk ◽  
S. Ghosh ◽  
S. Achuthan ◽  
X. Chen ◽  
X. Yao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Membrane Proteins ◽  
G Protein ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
G Protein Coupled Receptors ◽  
Complement Factor ◽  
Computational Framework ◽  
Alanine Scanning ◽  
Structure And Dynamics ◽  
G Protein Coupled

AbstractAlthough the three-dimensional structures of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the largest superfamily of drug targets, have enabled structure-based drug design, there are no structures available for 87% of GPCRs. This is due to the stiff challenge in purifying the inherently flexible GPCRs. Identifying thermostabilized mutant GPCRs via systematic alanine scanning mutations has been a successful strategy in stabilizing GPCRs, but it remains a daunting task for each GPCR. We developed a computational method that combines sequence, structure and dynamics based molecular properties of GPCRs that recapitulate GPCR stability, with four different machine learning methods to predict thermostable mutations ahead of experiments. This method has been trained on thermostability data for 1231 mutants, the largest publicly available dataset. A blind prediction for thermostable mutations of the Complement factor C5a Receptor retrieved 36% of the thermostable mutants in the top 50 prioritized mutants compared to 3% in the first 50 attempts using systematic alanine scanning.Statement Of SignifiganceG-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the largest superfamily of membrane proteins play a vital role in cellular physiology and are targets to blockbuster drugs. Hence it is imperative to solve the three dimensional structures of GPCRs in various conformational states with different types of ligands bound. To reduce the experimental burden in identifying thermostable GPCR mutants, we report a computational framework using machine learning algorithms trained on thermostability data for 1231 mutants and features calculated from analysis of GPCR sequences, structure and dynamics to predict thermostable mutations ahead of experiments. This work represents a significant advancement in the development, validation and testing of a computational framework that can be extended to other class A GPCRs and helical membrane proteins.

scholarly journals Membrane-active Polymers: NCMNP13-x, NCMNP21-x and NCMNP21b-x for Membrane Protein Structural Biology

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thi Kim Hoang Trinh ◽  
Claudio Catalano ◽  
Youzhong Guo
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Proteins ◽  
Membrane Protein ◽  
Structural Biology ◽  
Maleic Acid ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Design Synthesis ◽  
Native Cell ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Lipid Particles ◽  
High Resolution Structure

Membrane proteins are a ubiquitous group of bio-macromolecules responsible for many crucial biological processes and serve as drug targets for a wide range of modern drugs. Detergent-free technologies such as styrene-maleic acid lipid particles (SMALP), diisobutylene-maleic acid lipid particles (DIBMALP), and native cell membrane nanoparticles (NCMN) systems have recently emerged as revolutionary alternatives to the traditional detergent-based approaches for membrane protein research. NCMN systems aim to create a membrane-active polymer library suitable for high-resolution structure determination. Herein, we report our design, synthesis, characterization and comparative application analyses of three novel classes of NCMN polymers, NCMNP13-x, NCMNP21-x and NCMNP21b-x. Although each NCMN polymer can solubilize various model membrane proteins and conserve native lipids into NCMN particles, only the NCMNP21b-x series reveals lipid-protein particles with good buffer compatibility and high homogeneity suitable for single-particle cryo-EM analysis. Consequently, the NCMNP21b-x polymers that bring out high-quality NCMN particles are particularly attractive for membrane protein structural biology.

scholarly journals Development of OPLS-AA/M Parameters for Simulations of G Protein-Coupled Receptors and Other Membrane Proteins

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Robertson ◽  
Georgios Skiniotis
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Proteins ◽  
Force Field ◽  
G Protein ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
G Protein Coupled Receptors ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Post Translational Modifications ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
High Level ◽  
G Protein Coupled

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and other membrane proteins are valuable drug targets, and their dynamic nature makes them attractive systems for study with molecular dynamics simulations and free energy approaches. Here, we report the development, implementation, and validation of OPLS-AA/M force field parameters to enable simulations of these systems. These efforts include the introduction of post-translational modifications including lipidations and phosphorylation. We also modify previously reported parameters for lipids to be more consistent with the OPLS-AA force field standard and extend their coverage. These new parameters are validated on a variety of test systems, with the results compared to high-level quantum mechanics calculations, experimental data, and simulations with CHARMM36m where relevant. The results demonstrate that the new parameters reliably reproduce the behavior of membrane protein systems.

scholarly journals Lipid nanoparticle technologies for the study of G protein-coupled receptors in lipid environments

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1287-1302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Lavington ◽  
Anthony Watts
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Proteins ◽  
G Protein ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Large Family ◽  
G Protein Coupled Receptors ◽  
Integral Membrane Proteins ◽  
Lipid Nanoparticle ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Biophysical Studies ◽  
G Protein Coupled

AbstractG protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a large family of integral membrane proteins which conduct a wide range of biological roles and represent significant drug targets. Most biophysical and structural studies of GPCRs have been conducted on detergent-solubilised receptors, and it is clear that detergents can have detrimental effects on GPCR function. Simultaneously, there is increasing appreciation of roles for specific lipids in modulation of GPCR function. Lipid nanoparticles such as nanodiscs and styrene maleic acid lipid particles (SMALPs) offer opportunities to study integral membrane proteins in lipid environments, in a form that is soluble and amenable to structural and biophysical experiments. Here, we review the application of lipid nanoparticle technologies to the study of GPCRs, assessing the relative merits and limitations of each system. We highlight how these technologies can provide superior platforms to detergents for structural and biophysical studies of GPCRs and inform on roles for protein-lipid interactions in GPCR function.

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