scholarly journals Topology-dependent anomalous dynamics of ring and linear DNA are sensitive to cytoskeleton crosslinking

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. eaay5912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devynn M. Wulstein ◽  
Kathryn E. Regan ◽  
Jonathan Garamella ◽  
Ryan J. McGorty ◽  
Rae M. Robertson-Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Transport Properties ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Intracellular Transport ◽  
Conformational Stability ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Single Mode ◽  
Dna Molecules ◽  
Linear Dna ◽  
Linear Chains ◽  
Anomalous Dynamics

Cytoskeletal crowding plays a key role in the diffusion of DNA molecules through the cell, acting as a barrier to effective intracellular transport and conformational stability required for processes such as transfection, viral infection, and gene therapy. Here, we elucidate the transport properties and conformational dynamics of linear and ring DNA molecules diffusing through entangled and crosslinked composite networks of actin and microtubules. We couple single-molecule conformational tracking with differential dynamic microscopy to reveal that ring and linear DNA exhibit unexpectedly distinct transport properties that are influenced differently by cytoskeleton crosslinking. Ring DNA coils are swollen and undergo heterogeneous and biphasic subdiffusion that is hindered by crosslinking. Conversely, crosslinking actually facilitates the single-mode subdiffusion that compacted linear chains exhibit. Our collective results demonstrate that transient threading by cytoskeleton filaments plays a key role in the dynamics of ring DNA, whereas the mobility of the cytoskeleton dictates transport of linear DNA.

scholarly journals Allosteric Response and Substrate Sensitivity in Peptide Binding of the Signal Recognition Particle

2014 ◽  
Vol 289 (44) ◽  
pp. 30868-30879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connie Y. Wang ◽  
Thomas F. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Protein Targeting ◽  
Substrate Binding ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Conformational Stability ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Signal Recognition Particle ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Signal Recognition ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

We characterize the conformational dynamics and substrate selectivity of the signal recognition particle (SRP) using a thermodynamic free energy cycle approach and microsecond timescale molecular dynamics simulations. The SRP is a central component of the co-translational protein targeting machinery that binds to the N-terminal signal peptide (SP) of nascent proteins. We determined the shift in relative conformational stability of the SRP upon substrate binding to quantify allosteric coupling between SRP domains. In particular, for dipeptidyl aminopeptidase, an SP that is recognized by the SRP for co-translational targeting, it is found that substrate binding induces substantial changes in the SRP toward configurations associated with targeting of the nascent protein, and it is found that the changes are modestly enhanced by a mutation that increases the hydrophobicity of the SP. However, for alkaline phosphatase, an SP that is recognized for post-translational targeting, substrate binding induces the reverse change in the SRP conformational distribution away from targeting configurations. Microsecond timescale trajectories reveal the intrinsic flexibility of the SRP conformational landscape and provide insight into recent single molecule studies by illustrating that 10-nm lengthscale changes between FRET pairs occur via the rigid-body movement of SRP domains connected by the flexible linker region. In combination, these results provide direct evidence for the hypothesis that substrate-controlled conformational switching in the SRP provides a mechanism for discriminating between different SPs and for connecting substrate binding to downstream steps in the protein targeting pathway.

Monitoring the Structural Dynamics of U2 snRNA Via Single-Molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Carl DeHaven
Keyword(s):  
Energy Transfer ◽  
Structural Dynamics ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
Resonance Energy ◽  
Förster Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
U2 Snrna ◽  
Folding Dynamics ◽  
The Impact

This thesis contains four topic areas: a review of single-molecule microscropy methods and splicing, conformational dynamics of stem II of the U2 snRNA, the impact of post-transcriptional modifications on U2 snRNA folding dynamics, and preliminary findings on Mango aptamer folding dynamics.

scholarly journals Single bacterial resolvases first exploit, then constrain intrinsic dynamics of the Holliday junction to direct recombination

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujay Ray ◽  
Nibedita Pal ◽  
Nils G Walter
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Homologous Recombination ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Holliday Junction ◽  
Energetic Cost ◽  
Genomic Integrity ◽  
Dna Molecules ◽  
Single Molecule Fluorescence ◽  
And Cluster Analysis ◽  
Fluorescence Observation

Abstract Homologous recombination forms and resolves an entangled DNA Holliday Junction (HJ) crucial for achieving genetic reshuffling and genome repair. To maintain genomic integrity, specialized resolvase enzymes cleave the entangled DNA into two discrete DNA molecules. However, it is unclear how two similar stacking isomers are distinguished, and how a cognate sequence is found and recognized to achieve accurate recombination. We here use single-molecule fluorescence observation and cluster analysis to examine how prototypic bacterial resolvase RuvC singles out two of the four HJ strands and achieves sequence-specific cleavage. We find that RuvC first exploits, then constrains the dynamics of intrinsic HJ isomer exchange at a sampled branch position to direct cleavage toward the catalytically competent HJ conformation and sequence, thus controlling recombination output at minimal energetic cost. Our model of rapid DNA scanning followed by ‘snap-locking’ of a cognate sequence is strikingly consistent with the conformational proofreading of other DNA-modifying enzymes.

Advances in the study of the mechanochemical coupling of kinesin

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (18) ◽  
pp. 1840001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Li ◽  
Zhong-Can Ou-Yang ◽  
Yao-Gen Shu
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Intracellular Transport ◽  
Coordination Mechanism ◽  
Personal Perspective ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Mechanochemical Coupling ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Made In

Kinesin is a two-headed linear motor for intracellular transport. It can walk a long distance in a hand-over-hand manner along the track before detaching (i.e., high processivity), and it consumes one ATP molecule for each step (i.e., tight mechanochemical coupling). The mechanisms of the coordination of its two heads and the mechanochemical coupling are the central issues of numerous researches. A few advances have been made in recent decades, thanks to the development of single-molecule technologies and molecular dynamics simulations. In this paper, we review some progress of the studies on the kinematics, energetics, coordination mechanism, mechanochemical mechanism of kinesin. We also present a personal perspective on the future studies of kinesin.

scholarly journals Single-Molecule Conformational Dynamics of a Biologically Functional Hydroxocobalamin Riboswitch

2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (48) ◽  
pp. 16832-16843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik D. Holmstrom ◽  
Jacob T. Polaski ◽  
Robert T. Batey ◽  
David J. Nesbitt
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Conformational Dynamics

scholarly journals EXPRESS: Single-Molecule Fluorescence Techniques for Membrane Protein Dynamics Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 000370282110099
Author(s):  
Ziyu Yang ◽  
Haiqi Xu ◽  
Jiayu Wang ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Meiping Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Protein ◽  
Protein Dynamics ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Correlation Spectroscopy ◽  
Membrane Receptors ◽  
Biological Macromolecules ◽  
Dynamics Analysis ◽  
Single Molecule Fluorescence ◽  
Membrane Protein Dynamics

Fluorescence-based single molecule techniques, mainly including fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET), are able to analyze the conformational dynamics and diversity of biological macromolecules. They have been applied to analysis of the dynamics of membrane proteins, such as membrane receptors and membrane transport proteins, due to their superior ability in resolving spatio-temporal heterogeneity and the demand of trace amounts of analytes. In this review, we first introduced the basic principle involved in FCS and smFRET. Then we summarized the labelling and immobilization strategies of membrane protein molecules, the confocal-based and TIRF-based instrumental configuration, and the data processing methods. The applications to membrane protein dynamics analysis are described in detail with the focus on how to select suitable fluorophores, labelling sites, experimental setup and analysis methods. In the last part, the remaining challenges to be addressed and further development in this field are also briefly discussed.

scholarly journals Conformational entropy of a single peptide controlled under force governs protease recognition and catalysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (45) ◽  
pp. 11525-11530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo E. Guerin ◽  
Guillaume Stirnemann ◽  
David Giganti
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Conformational Sampling ◽  
Enzymatic Reactions ◽  
Sequence Specificity ◽  
Proteomics Data ◽  
Conformational Entropy ◽  
Substrate Peptide ◽  
The Impact

An immense repertoire of protein chemical modifications catalyzed by enzymes is available as proteomics data. Quantifying the impact of the conformational dynamics of the modified peptide remains challenging to understand the decisive kinetics and amino acid sequence specificity of these enzymatic reactions in vivo, because the target peptide must be disordered to accommodate the specific enzyme-binding site. Here, we were able to control the conformation of a single-molecule peptide chain by applying mechanical force to activate and monitor its specific cleavage by a model protease. We found that the conformational entropy impacts the reaction in two distinct ways. First, the flexibility and accessibility of the substrate peptide greatly increase upon mechanical unfolding. Second, the conformational sampling of the disordered peptide drives the specific recognition, revealing force-dependent reaction kinetics. These results support a mechanism of peptide recognition based on conformational selection from an ensemble that we were able to quantify with a torsional free-energy model. Our approach can be used to predict how entropy affects site-specific modifications of proteins and prompts conformational and mechanical selectivity.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document