Distinct responses to rare codons in select Drosophila tissues

Codon usage bias has long been appreciated to influence protein production. Yet, relatively few studies have analyzed the impacts of codon usage on tissue-specific mRNA and protein expression. Here, we use codon-modified reporters to perform an organism-wide screen in Drosophila melanogaster for distinct tissue responses to codon usage bias. These reporters reveal a cliff-like decline of protein expression near the limit of rare codon usage in endogenously expressed Drosophila genes. Near the edge of this limit, however, we find the testis and brain are uniquely capable of expressing rare codon-enriched reporters. We define a new metric of tissue-specific codon usage, the tissue-apparent Codon Adaptation Index, to reveal a conserved enrichment for rare codon usage in the endogenously expressed genes of both Drosophila and human testis. We further demonstrate a role for rare codons in restricting protein expression of an evolutionarily young gene, RpL10Aa, to the Drosophila testis. Rare codon-mediated restriction of this testis-specific protein is critical for female fertility. Our work highlights distinct responses to rarely used codons in select tissues, revealing a critical role for codon bias in tissue biology.

Identification of Immunodominant T-lymphocyte Epitope Peptides in HPV 1, 2 and 3 L1 Protein for Novel Cutaneous Wart Vaccine

Background: Common warts and flat warts are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Peak incidence of wart infection occurs in schoolchildren aged 12-16, where prevalence can be as high as 20%. Traditional treatments aimed at destruction of wart tissue have low clearance rates and high recurrence rates. Occasional reports have even shown warts becoming malignant and progressing into verrucous carcinoma. Current licensed HPV vaccines largely target higher-risk oncogenic HPV types, but do not provide coverage of low-risk types associated with warts. To date, little attention has been given to the development of effective, anti-viral wart treatments. Objective: This study aims to identify immunodominant T-lymphocyte epitopes from the L1 major capsid protein of HPV 1, 2 and 3, a foundational step in bioengineering a peptide-based vaccine for warts. Methods: Cytotoxic T-cell and helper T-cell epitopes were predicted using an array of immunoinformatic tools against a reference panel of frequently observed MHC-I and MHC-II alleles. Predicted peptides were ranked based on IC50 and IFN-γ Inducer Scores, respectively, and top performing epitopes were synthesized and subjected to in vitro screening by IFN-γ enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assay (ELISpot). Independent trials were conducted using PBMCs of healthy volunteers. Final chosen peptides were fused with flexible GS linkers in silico to design a novel polypeptide vaccine. Results: Seven immunodominant peptides screened from 44 predicted peptides were included in the vaccine design, selected to elicit specific immune responses across MHC class I and class II, and across HPV types. Evaluation of the vaccine′s properties suggest that the vaccine is stable, non-allergenic, and provides near complete global population coverage (>99%). Solubility prediction and rare codon analysis indicate that the DNA sequence encoding the vaccine is suitable for high level expression in Escherichia coli. Conclusions: In sum, this study demonstrates the potential and lays the framework for the development of a peptide-based vaccine against warts.

Ribosome occupancy profiles are conserved between structurally and evolutionarily related yeast domains

Motivation Protein synthesis is a non-equilibrium process, meaning that the speed of translation can influence the ability of proteins to fold and function. Assuming that structurally similar proteins fold by similar pathways, the profile of translation speed along an mRNA should be evolutionarily conserved between related proteins to direct correct folding and downstream function. The only evidence to date for such conservation of translation speed between homologous proteins has used codon rarity as a proxy for translation speed. There are, however, many other factors including mRNA structure and the chemistry of the amino acids in the A- and P-sites of the ribosome that influence the speed of amino acid addition. Results Ribosome profiling experiments provide a signal directly proportional to the underlying translation times at the level of individual codons. We compared ribosome occupancy profiles (extracted from five different large-scale yeast ribosome profiling studies) between related protein domains to more directly test if their translation schedule was conserved. Our analysis reveals that the ribosome occupancy profiles of paralogous domains tend to be significantly more similar to one another than to profiles of non-paralogous domains. This trend does not depend on domain length, structural classes, amino acid composition or sequence similarity. Our results indicate that entire ribosome occupancy profiles and not just rare codon locations are conserved between even distantly related domains in yeast, providing support for the hypothesis that translation schedule is conserved between structurally related domains to retain folding pathways and facilitate efficient folding. Availability and implementation Python3 code is available on GitHub at https://github.com/DanNissley/Compare-ribosome-occupancy. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

A novel viral protein translation mechanism reveals mitochondria as a target for antiviral drug development

The ongoing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has acutely highlighted the need to identify new treatment strategies for viral infections. Here we present a pivotal molecular mechanism of viral protein translation that relies on the mitochondrial translation machinery. We found that rare codons such as Leu-TTA are highly enriched in many viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, and these codons are essential for the regulation of viral protein expression. SARS-CoV-2 controls the translation of its spike gene by hijacking host mitochondria through 5’ leader and 3’UTR sequences that contain mitochondrial localization signals and activate the EGR1 pathway. Mitochondrial-targeted drugs such as lonidamine and polydatin significantly repress rare codon-driven gene expression and viral replication. This study identifies an unreported viral protein translation mechanism and opens up a novel avenue for developing antiviral drugs.One Sentence SummaryMitochondria are a potential target for antiviral therapy

Significantly enhancing production of trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline by integrated system engineering in Escherichia coli

Trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline is produced by trans-proline-4-hydroxylase with l-proline through glucose fermentation. Here, we designed a thorough “from A to Z” strategy to significantly improve trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline production. Through rare codon selected evolution, Escherichia coli M1 produced 18.2 g L−1l-proline. Metabolically engineered M6 with the deletion of putA, proP, putP, and aceA, and proB mutation focused carbon flux to l-proline and released its feedback inhibition. It produced 15.7 g L−1trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline with 10 g L−1l-proline retained. Furthermore, a tunable circuit based on quorum sensing attenuated l-proline hydroxylation flux, resulting in 43.2 g L−1trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline with 4.3 g L−1l-proline retained. Finally, rationally designed l-proline hydroxylase gave 54.8 g L−1trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline in 60 hours almost without l-proline remaining—the highest production to date. The de novo engineering carbon flux through rare codon selected evolution, dynamic precursor modulation, and metabolic engineering provides a good technological platform for efficient hydroxyl amino acid synthesis.

In Silico Evaluation of the ATP7B Protein: Insights from the Role of Rare Codon Clusters and Mutations that Affect Protein Structure and Function

Background: Wilson’s disease is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder of copper metabolism, which is characterized by hepatic and neurological disease. ATP7B encodes a transmembrane protein ATPase (ATP7B), which functions as a copper-dependent P-type ATPase. The mutations in the gene ATP7B (on chromosome 13) lead to Wilson’s disease and is highly expressed in the liver, kidney, and placenta. Consequently, this enzyme was considered a special topic in clinical and biotechnological research. For in silico analysis, the 3D molecular modeling of this enzyme was conducted in the I-TASSER web server. Methods: For a better evaluation, the important characteristics of this enzyme such as the rare codons of the ATP7B gene were evaluated by online software, including a rare codon calculator (RCC), ATGme, LaTcOm, and Sherlocc program. Additionally, the multiple sequence alignment of this enzyme was studied. Finally, for evaluation of the effects of rare codons, the 3D structure of ATP7B was modeled in the Swiss Model and I-TASSER web server. Results: The results showed that the ATP7B gene has 35 single rare codons for Arg. Additionally, RCC detected two rare codons for Leu, 13 single rare codons for Ile and 28 rare codons for the Pro. ATP7B gene analysis in minmax and sliding_window algorithm resulted in the identification of 16 and 17 rare codon clusters, respectively, indicating the different features of these algorithms in the detection of RCCs. Analyzing the 3D model of ATP7B protein showed that Arg816 residue constitutes hydrogen bonds with Glu810 and Glu816. Mutation of this residue to Ser816 cause these hydrogen bonds not to be formed and may interfere in the proper folding of ATP7B protein. Furthermore, the side chain of Arg1228 does not form any bond with other residues. By mutation of Arg1228 to Thr1228, a new hydrogen bond is formed with the side chain of Arg1228. The addition and deletion of hydrogen bonds alter the proper folding of ATP7B protein and interfere with the proper function of the ATP7B position. On the other hand, His1069 forms the hydrogen bonds with the His880 and this hydrogen bond adhere two regions of the protein together, which is critical in the final structural folding of ATP7B protein. Conclusion: Previous studies show that synonymous and silent mutations have been linked to numerous diseases. Given the importance of synonymous and silent mutations in diseases, the aim of this study was to investigate the rare codons (synonymous codons) in the structure of ATP7B enzyme. By these analyses, a new understanding was developed and our findings can further be used in some fields of the clinical and industrial biotechnology.

Rare Codon Analysis in Rickettsia Affecting Recombinant Protein Expression in Escherichia coli

Rickettsia species are important emerging pathogens causing rickettsial diseases, which are important cause death worldwide. The number of recombinant proteins used for diagnostic and therapeutic applications has increased dramatically, which is important in determination of protein function, structure and antigensity. Although E. coli is widely used expression system, the codon bias can hamper protein expression due to the presence of rare codons in gene sequence coding protein of interest. Using bioinformatics tools, rare codon analysis of rickettsial genes was performed and compared to not expressed proteins in both R. prowazekii and R. rickettsii. A negative correlation between frequencies of rare codons in Rickettsia and success of rickettsial protein expression was observed. This study suggested a useful tool to improve rickettsial recombinant protein expression in E. coli.