scholarly journals Multiscale Simulation Reveals Passive Proton Transport Through SERCA on the Microsecond Timescale

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenghan Li ◽  
Zhi Yue ◽  
L. Michel Espinoza-Fonseca ◽  
Gregory A. Voth
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Free Energy ◽  
Sarcoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Binding Site ◽  
Proton Transport ◽  
Computational Study ◽  
Multiscale Simulation ◽  
Proton Pumping ◽  
Reactive Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Free Energy Sampling

ABSTRACTThe sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) transports two Ca2+ ions from the cytoplasm to the reticulum lumen at the expense of ATP hydrolysis. In addition to transporting Ca2+, SERCA facilitates bidirectional proton transport across the sarcoplasmic reticulum to maintain the charge balance of the transport sites and to balance the charge deficit generated by the exchange of Ca2+. Previous studies have shown the existence of a transient water-filled pore in SERCA that connects the Ca2+-binding sites with the lumen, but the capacity of this pathway to sustain passive proton transport has remained unknown. In this study, we used the multiscale reactive molecular dynamics (MS-RMD) method and free energy sampling to quantify the free energy profile and timescale of the proton transport across this pathway while also explicitly accounting for the dynamically coupled hydration changes of the pore. We find that proton transport from the central binding site to the lumen has a microsecond timescale, revealing a novel passive cytoplasm-to-lumen proton flow beside the well-known inverse proton countertransport occurring in active Ca2+ transport. We propose that this proton transport mechanism is operational and serves as a functional conduit for passive proton transport across the sarcoplasmic reticulum.SIGNIFICANCEMultiscale reactive molecular dynamics combined with free energy sampling was applied to study proton transport through a transient water pore connecting the Ca2+-binding site to the lumen in SERCA. This is the first computational study of this large biomolecular system that treats the hydrated excess proton and its transport through water structures and amino acids explicitly. When also correctly accounting for the hydration fluctuations of the pore, it is found that a transiently hydrated channel can transport protons on a microsecond timescale. These results quantitatively support the hypothesis of the proton intake into the sarcoplasm via SERCA, in addition to the well-known proton pumping by SERCA to the cytoplasm along with Ca2+ transport.

scholarly journals Multiscale Simulation of an Influenza A M2 Channel Mutant Reveals Key Features of Its Markedly Different Proton Transport Behavior

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura C. Watkins ◽  
William F. DeGrado ◽  
Gregory A. Voth
Keyword(s):  
Free Energy ◽  
Proton Transport ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Water Structure ◽  
Multiscale Simulation ◽  
Reactive Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Activated State ◽  
Ph Range ◽  
And Shifts

ABSTRACTThe influenza A M2 channel, a prototype for the viroporin class of viral channels, is an acid-activated viroporin that conducts protons across the viral membrane, a critical step in the viral life cycle. As the protons enter from the viral exterior, four central His37 residues control the channel activation by binding subsequent protons, which opens the Trp41 gate and allows proton flux to the viral interior. Asp44 is essential for maintaining the Trp41 gate in a closed state at high pH, which results in asymmetric conduction. The prevalent D44N mutant disrupts this gate and opens the C-terminal end of the channel, resulting in overall increased conduction in the physiologically relevant pH range and a loss of this asymmetric conduction. Here, we use extensive Multiscale Reactive Molecular Dynamics (MS-RMD) and Quantum Mechanics/Molecular mechanics (QM/MM) simulations with an explicit, reactive excess proton to calculate the free energy of proton transport in the M2 mutant and to study the dynamic molecular-level behavior of D44N M2. We find that this mutation significantly lowers the barrier of His37 deprotonation in the activated state and shifts the barrier for entry up to the Val27 tetrad. These free energy changes are reflected in structural shifts. Additionally, we show that the increased hydration around the His37 tetrad diminishes the effect of the His37 charge on the channel’s water structure, facilitating proton transport and enabling activation from the viral interior. Altogether, this work provides key insight into the fundamental characteristics of PT in WT M2 and how the D44N mutation alters this PT mechanism, and it expands our understanding of the role of emergent mutations in viroporins.

scholarly journals Multiscale simulations reveal key features of the proton-pumping mechanism in cytochrome c oxidase

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (27) ◽  
pp. 7420-7425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruibin Liang ◽  
Jessica M. J. Swanson ◽  
Yuxing Peng ◽  
Mårten Wikström ◽  
Gregory A. Voth
Keyword(s):  
Free Energy ◽  
Proton Transport ◽  
Proton Pumping ◽  
Strongly Coupled ◽  
Reactive Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Hydrophobic Cavity ◽  
Energy Profiles ◽  
Binuclear Center ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Rate Limiting

Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) reduces oxygen to water and uses the released free energy to pump protons across the membrane. We have used multiscale reactive molecular dynamics simulations to explicitly characterize (with free-energy profiles and calculated rates) the internal proton transport events that enable proton pumping during first steps of oxidation of the fully reduced enzyme. Our results show that proton transport from amino acid residue E286 to both the pump loading site (PLS) and to the binuclear center (BNC) are thermodynamically driven by electron transfer from heme a to the BNC, but that the former (i.e., pumping) is kinetically favored whereas the latter (i.e., transfer of the chemical proton) is rate-limiting. The calculated rates agree with experimental measurements. The backflow of the pumped proton from the PLS to E286 and from E286 to the inside of the membrane is prevented by large free-energy barriers for the backflow reactions. Proton transport from E286 to the PLS through the hydrophobic cavity and from D132 to E286 through the D-channel are found to be strongly coupled to dynamical hydration changes in the corresponding pathways and, importantly, vice versa.

scholarly journals Conformational Ensembles of an Intrinsically Disordered Protein pKID with and without a KIX Domain in Explicit Solvent Investigated by All-Atom Multicanonical Molecular Dynamics

Biomolecules ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koji Umezawa ◽  
Jinzen Ikebe ◽  
Mitsunori Takano ◽  
Haruki Nakamura ◽  
Junichi Higo
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Free Energy ◽  
Binding Site ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
Intrinsically Disordered Protein ◽  
Bound State ◽  
Conformational Ensembles ◽  
Intrinsically Disordered ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
High Flexibility

The phosphorylated kinase-inducible activation domain (pKID) adopts a helix–loop–helix structure upon binding to its partner KIX, although it is unstructured in the unbound state. The N-terminal and C-terminal regions of pKID, which adopt helices in the complex, are called, respectively, αA and αB. We performed all-atom multicanonical molecular dynamics simulations of pKID with and without KIX in explicit solvents to generate conformational ensembles. Although the unbound pKID was disordered overall, αA and αB exhibited a nascent helix propensity; the propensity of αA was stronger than that of αB, which agrees with experimental results. In the bound state, the free-energy landscape of αB involved two low free-energy fractions: native-like and non-native fractions. This result suggests that αB folds according to the induced-fit mechanism. The αB-helix direction was well aligned as in the NMR complex structure, although the αA helix exhibited high flexibility. These results also agree quantitatively with experimental observations. We have detected that the αB helix can bind to another site of KIX, to which another protein MLL also binds with the adopting helix. Consequently, MLL can facilitate pKID binding to the pKID-binding site by blocking the MLL-binding site. This also supports experimentally obtained results.

scholarly journals A molecular dynamics simulation study of the ACE2 receptor with screened natural inhibitors to identify novel drug candidate against COVID-19

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11171
Author(s):  
Neha Srivastava ◽  
Prekshi Garg ◽  
Prachi Srivastava ◽  
Prahlad Kishore Seth
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Molecular Docking ◽  
Molecular Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Binding Site ◽  
Cinnamic Acid ◽  
Simulation Study ◽  
Computational Study ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Receptor Protein ◽  
Novel Therapeutic

Background & Objectives The massive outbreak of Novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has turned out to be a serious global health issue worldwide. Currently, no drugs or vaccines are available for the treatment of COVID-19. The current computational study was attempted to identify a novel therapeutic inhibitor against novel SARS-CoV-2 using in silico drug discovery pipeline. Methods In the present study, the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor was the target for the designing of drugs against the deadly virus. The 3D structure of the receptor was modeled & validated using a Swiss-model, Procheck & Errat server. A molecular docking study was performed between a group of natural & synthetic compounds having proven anti-viral activity with ACE2 receptor using Autodock tool 1.5.6. The molecular dynamics simulation study was performed using Desmond v 12 to evaluate the stability and interaction of the ACE2 receptor with a ligand. Results Based on the lowest binding energy, confirmation, and H-bond interaction, cinnamic acid (−5.20 kcal/mol), thymoquinone (−4.71 kcal/mol), and andrographolide (Kalmegh) (−4.00 kcal/mol) were screened out showing strong binding affinity to the active site of ACE2 receptor. MD simulations suggest that cinnamic acid, thymoquinone, and andrographolide (Kalmegh) could efficiently activate the biological pathway without changing the conformation in the binding site of the ACE2 receptor. The bioactivity and drug-likeness properties of compounds show their better pharmacological property and safer to use. Interpretation & Conclusions The study concludes the high potential of cinnamic acid, thymoquinone, and andrographolide against the SARS-CoV-2 ACE2 receptor protein. Thus, the molecular docking and MD simulation study will aid in understanding the molecular interaction between ligand and receptor binding site, thereby leading to novel therapeutic intervention.

A Reactive Molecular Dynamics Algorithm for Proton Transport in Aqueous Systems

2010 ◽  
Vol 114 (27) ◽  
pp. 11965-11976 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myvizhi Esai Selvan ◽  
David J. Keffer ◽  
Shengting Cui ◽  
Stephen J. Paddison
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Proton Transport ◽  
Aqueous Systems ◽  
Reactive Molecular Dynamics

scholarly journals Understanding the essential proton-pumping kinetic gates and decoupling mutations in cytochrome c oxidase

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (23) ◽  
pp. 5924-5929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruibin Liang ◽  
Jessica M. J. Swanson ◽  
Mårten Wikström ◽  
Gregory A. Voth
Keyword(s):  
Free Energy ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Proton Pumping ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Reactive Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Chemical Catalysis ◽  
Energy Profiles ◽  
High Proton ◽  
Pumping Efficiency ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) catalyzes the reduction of oxygen to water and uses the released free energy to pump protons against the transmembrane proton gradient. To better understand the proton-pumping mechanism of the wild-type (WT) CcO, much attention has been given to the mutation of amino acid residues along the proton translocating D-channel that impair, and sometimes decouple, proton pumping from the chemical catalysis. Although their influence has been clearly demonstrated experimentally, the underlying molecular mechanisms of these mutants remain unknown. In this work, we report multiscale reactive molecular dynamics simulations that characterize the free-energy profiles of explicit proton transport through several important D-channel mutants. Our results elucidate the mechanisms by which proton pumping is impaired, thus revealing key kinetic gating features in CcO. In the N139T and N139C mutants, proton back leakage through the D-channel is kinetically favored over proton pumping due to the loss of a kinetic gate in the N139 region. In the N139L mutant, the bulky L139 side chain inhibits timely reprotonation of E286 through the D-channel, which impairs both proton pumping and the chemical reaction. In the S200V/S201V double mutant, the proton affinity of E286 is increased, which slows down both proton pumping and the chemical catalysis. This work thus not only provides insight into the decoupling mechanisms of CcO mutants, but also explains how kinetic gating in the D-channel is imperative to achieving high proton-pumping efficiency in the WT CcO.

scholarly journals Adaptive free energy sampling in multidimensional collective variable space using boxed molecular dynamics

2016 ◽  
Vol 195 ◽  
pp. 395-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike O'Connor ◽  
Emanuele Paci ◽  
Simon McIntosh-Smith ◽  
David R. Glowacki
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Free Energy ◽  
Rare Event ◽  
Potential Of Mean Force ◽  
Good Evidence ◽  
Collective Variable ◽  
Rigid Body Dynamics ◽  
Free Energy Surface ◽  
Molecular Configuration ◽  
Free Energy Sampling

The past decade has seen the development of a new class of rare event methods in which molecular configuration space is divided into a set of boundaries/interfaces, and then short trajectories are run between boundaries. For all these methods, an important concern is how to generate boundaries. In this paper, we outline an algorithm for adaptively generating boundaries along a free energy surface in multi-dimensional collective variable (CV) space, building on the boxed molecular dynamics (BXD) rare event algorithm. BXD is a simple technique for accelerating the simulation of rare events and free energy sampling which has proven useful for calculating kinetics and free energy profiles in reactive and non-reactive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations across a range of systems, in both NVT and NVE ensembles. Two key developments outlined in this paper make it possible to automate BXD, and to adaptively map free energy and kinetics in complex systems. First, we have generalized BXD to multidimensional CV space. Using strategies from rigid-body dynamics, we have derived a simple and general velocity-reflection procedure that conserves energy for arbitrary collective variable definitions in multiple dimensions, and show that it is straightforward to apply BXD to sampling in multidimensional CV space so long as the Cartesian gradients ∇CV are available. Second, we have modified BXD to undertake on-the-fly statistical analysis during a trajectory, harnessing the information content latent in the dynamics to automatically determine boundary locations. Such automation not only makes BXD considerably easier to use; it also guarantees optimal boundaries, speeding up convergence. We have tested the multidimensional adaptive BXD procedure by calculating the potential of mean force for a chemical reaction recently investigated using both experimental and computational approaches – i.e., F + CD3CN → DF + D2CN in both the gas phase and a strongly coupled explicit CD3CN solvent. The results obtained using multidimensional adaptive BXD agree well with previously published experimental and computational results, providing good evidence for its reliability.

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