Molecular dynamics simulations of p53 DNA-binding domain

We have studied room-temperature structural and dynamic properties of the p53 DNA-binding domain in both DNA-bound and DNA-free states. A cumulative 55 ns of explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations with the particle mesh Ewald treatment of electrostatics was performed. It was found that the mean structures in the production portions of the trajectories agree well with the crystal structure: backbone root-mean-square deviations are in the range of 1.6 and 2.0 A. In both simulations, noticeable backbone deviations from the crystal structure are observed only in loop L6, due to the lack of crystal packing in the simulations. More deviations are observed in the DNA-free simulation, apparently due to the absence of DNA. Computed backbone B-factor is also in qualitative agreement with the crystal structure. Interestingly, little backbone structural change is observed between the mean simulated DNA-bound and DNA-free structures. A notable difference is observed only at the DNA-binding interface. The correlation between native contacts and inactivation mechanisms of tumor mutations is also discussed. In the H2 region, tumor mutations at sites D281, R282, E285, and E286 may weaken five key interactions that stabilize H2, indicating that their inactivation mechanisms may be related to the loss of local structure around H2, which in turn may reduce the overall stability to a measurable amount. In the L2 region, tumor mutations at sites Y163, K164, E171, V173, L194, R249, I251, and E271 are likely to be responsible for the loss of stability in the protein. In addition to apparent DNA contacts that are related to DNA binding, interactions R175/S183, S183/R196, and E198/N235 are highly occupied only in the DNA-bound form, indicating that they are more likely to be responsible for DNA binding.     

Y220C突变体影响p53C蛋白质构象转换的分子动力学模拟

p53是迄今发现突变频率最高的一种肿瘤抑制蛋白质,突变会导致p53抑癌功能丧失并诱导癌症的发生。绝大多数的突变发生在p53的核心DNA结合区域（p53C）,其中Y220C是研究较多的一种突变体。虽然已有研究表明该突变能够降低p53C的结构稳定性,但其影响p53C构象转换的分子机制尚不清晰。本文利用分子动力学（MD）模拟方法研究了p53C突变体Y220C（p53C-Y220C）的结构变化,发现Y220C突变主要影响Y220C cluster区域（包括残基138-164和215-238）,且Y220C突变减少了Y220C cluster的β-折叠含量。进一步分析发现,Y220C突变不仅直接破坏突变氨基酸与周围氨基酸Leu145和Thr155之间的氢键,而且降低了Y220C cluster区域的折叠片S3和S8之间的氢键数量,使Y220C突变所形成的亲水性空腔变大,加速了水分子进入该蛋白质内部,并最终导致了p53C-Y220C变性。MD模拟结果揭示了Y220C突变影响p53C结构转换的分子机制,该研究对p53C-Y220C突变体高效稳定剂的筛选和设计具有重要意义。     

残基突变对P53-DNA结合域肽段构象影响的分子动力学模拟

基于分子动力学模拟方法研究了R249S、R248W 和G245S 突变对P53-DNA 结合域肽段(残基230-258)结构的影响. 采用GROMACS 软件包和GROMOS 43A1分子力场, 分别对野生型wtP53肽段、单点突变型P53-R249S肽段、两点突变型P53-R249S/R248W肽段和三点突变型P53-R249S/R248W/G245S肽段进行了4组独立的分子动力学模拟, 每组体系模拟时间为500 ns. 研究结果表明: R249S单残基突变影响肽段残基形成二级结构的情况, 但不改变肽段三维结构的模式, 同时使该肽段结构相对稳定; R249S和R248W两残基同时突变会加剧R249S突变对肽段的影响, 同时导致三维结构发生较大变化, 构象弯曲呈现双turn 结构, 肽段稳定性进一步增大; G245S突变对肽段的影响与R249S和R248W同时突变对其结构的影响相反, 在两残基突变的基础上, G245S突变会使原突变引起的变化减弱甚至消失, 同时使得该肽段结构稳定性减小. 该研究对认识肿瘤致病分子机制和设计新药物有重要意义.     

Predicting the coordination geometry for Mg2+ in the p53 DNA-binding domain: insights from computational studies

Zn(2+) in the tumor-suppressor protein p53 DNA-binding domain (DBD) is essential for its structural stability and DNA-binding specificity. Mg(2+) has also been recently reported to bind to the p53DBD and influence its DNA-binding activity. In this contribution, the binding geometry of Mg(2+) in the p53DBD and the mechanism of how Mg(2+) affects its DNA-binding activity were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Various possible coordination geometries of Mg(2+) binding to histidines (His), cysteines (Cys), and water molecules were studied at the B3LYP/6-311+g** level of theory. The protonation state of Cys and the environment were taken into account to explore the factors governing the coordination geometry. The free energy of the reaction to form the Mg(2+) complexes was estimated, suggesting that the favorable binding mode changes from a four- to six-coordinated geometry as the number of the protonated Cys increases. Furthermore, MD simulations were employed to explore the binding modes of Mg(2+) in the active site of the p53DBD. The simulation results of the Mg(2+) system and the native Zn(2+) system show that the binding affinity of Mg(2+)to the p53DBD is weaker than that of Zn(2+), in agreement with the DFT calculation results and experiments. In addition, the two metal ions are found to make a significant contribution to maintain a favorable orientation for Arg248 to interact with putative DNA, which is critically important to the sequence-specific DNA-binding activity of the p53DBD. However, the effect of Mg(2+) is less marked. Additionally, analysis of the natural bond orbital (NBO) charge transfer reveals that Mg(2+) has a higher net positive charge than Zn(2+), leading to a stronger electrostatic attractive interaction between Mg(2+) and putative DNA. This may partly explain the higher sequence-independent DNA-binding affinity of p53DBD-Mg(2+) compared to p53DBD-Zn(2+) observed in experiment.     

Direct observations of conformational distributions of intrinsically disordered p53 peptides using UV Raman and explicit solvent simulations

We report the first experimental measurements of Ramachandran Ψ-angle distributions for intrinsically disordered peptides: the N-terminal peptide fragment of tumor suppressor p53 and its P27S mutant form. To provide atomically detailed views of the conformational distributions, we performed classical, explicit-solvent molecular dynamics simulations on the microsecond time scale. Upon binding its partner protein, MDM2, wild-type p53 peptide adopts an α-helical conformation. Mutation of Pro27 to serine results in the highest affinity yet observed for MDM2-binding of the p53 peptide. Both UV resonance Raman spectroscopy (UVRR) and simulations reveal that the P27S mutation decreases the extent of PPII helical content and increases the probability for conformations that are similar to the α-helical MDM2-bound conformation. In addition, UVRR measurements were performed on peptides that were isotopically labeled at the Leu26 residue preceding the Pro27 in order to determine the conformational distributions of Leu26 in the wild-type and mutant peptides. The UVRR and simulation results are in quantitative agreement in terms of the change in the population of non-PPII conformations involving Leu26 upon mutation of Pro27 to serine. Finally, our simulations reveal that the MDM2-bound conformation of the peptide is significantly populated in both the wild-type and mutant isolated peptide ensembles in their unbound states, suggesting that MDM2 binding of the p53 peptides may involve conformational selection.     

光谱法研究金属离子与肿瘤抑制蛋白p53的DNA结合结构域的相互作用

利用荧光滴定法研究了9种金属离子与序列特异性的DNA结合结构域(p53DBD)的结合反应,其结合能力依次为Fe3+＞Zn2+＞Cu2+＞Ca2+＞Mg2+＞Ba2+＞Mn2+＞Ni2+＞Co2+.圆二色谱研究结果表明,Ba2+, Ca2+, Co2+, Mn2+及Ni2+并未引起蛋白二级结构变化; Zn2+, Mg2+及Fe3+诱导蛋白结构细微调整;而Cu2+结合导致蛋白螺旋结构大量丢失.ANS结合研究结果表明, Mg2+与Zn2+相似,诱导p53DBD蛋白表面疏水性增强,而Fe3+引起p53DBD蛋白表面疏水性降低.因此,Mg2+和Fe3+可能是影响或调节p53活性的潜在因子之一.     

Markov state models and NMR uncover an overlooked allosteric loop in p53

The tumor suppressor p53 is the most frequently mutated gene in human cancer, and thus reactivation of mutated p53 is a promising avenue for cancer therapy. Analysis of wildtype p53 and the Y220C cancer mutant long-timescale molecular dynamics simulations with Markov state models and validation by NMR relaxation studies has uncovered the involvement of loop L6 in the slowest motions of the protein. Due to its distant location from the DNA-binding surface, the conformational dynamics of this loop has so far remained largely unexplored. We observe mutation-induced stabilization of alternate L6 conformations, distinct from all experimentally-determined structures, in which the loop is both extended and located further away from the DNA-interacting surface. Additionally, the effect of the L6-adjacent Y220C mutation on the conformational landscape of the functionally-important loop L1 suggests an allosteric role to this dynamic loop and the inactivation mechanism of the mutation. Finally, the simulations reveal a novel Y220C cryptic pocket that can be targeted for p53 rescue efforts. Our approach exemplifies the power of the MSM methodology for uncovering intrinsic dynamic and kinetic differences among distinct protein ensembles, such as for the investigation of mutation effects on protein function.

Wildtype and Y220C L1 and L6 loops conformational landscape, with MSM-identified L6 states highlighted on the right.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of S100B protein to explore ligand blockage of the interaction with p53 protein

As a tumor suppressor, p53 plays an important role in cancer suppression. The biological function of p53 as a tumor suppressor is disabled when it binds to S100B. Developing the ligands to block the S100B-p53 interaction has been proposed as one of the most important approaches to the development of anti-cancer agents. We screened a small compound library against the binding interface of S100B and p53 to identify potential compounds to interfere with the interaction. The ligand-binding effect on the S100B-p53 interaction was explored by molecular dynamics at the atomic level. The results show that the ligand bound between S100B and p53 propels the two proteins apart by about 2 Å compared to the unligated S100B-p53 complex. The binding affinity of S100B and p53 decreases by ~8.5–14.6 kcal/mol after a ligand binds to the interface from the original unligated state of the S100B-p53 complex. Ligand-binding interferes with the interaction of S100B and p53. Such interference could impact the association of S100B and p53, which would free more p53 protein from the pairing with S100B and restore the biological function of p53 as a tumor suppressor. The analysis of the binding mode and ligand structural features would facilitate our effort to identify and design ligands to block S100B-p53 interaction effectively. The results from the work suggest that developing ligands targeting the interface of S100B and p53 could be a promising approach to recover the normal function of p53 as a tumor suppressor.     

嗜热蛋白酶PH1704别构中心量子化学计算与突变体动力学简

通过量子化学计算,确定嗜热菌Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3的PH1704蛋白酶别构位点的关键残基为Arg113,Tyr120和Asn129. 其中,Arg113及Asn129与别构抑制剂结合,参与别构调控. Tyr120残基位于亚基交界面附近,并与亲核残基Cys100之间以氢键相连,可通过影响亚基聚合来影响酶的亲核催化. DJ-1超家族的4种构建蛋白的结构显示,120位点位于亚基交界面处,影响亚基的聚合,进而影响蛋白酶的活力,并间接参与别构调控. 分子生物学实验显示,突变体R113T/Y120P/N129D的kcat/km(L·μmol-1·min-1)值是野生型kcat/km值的6倍,h系数由野生型的0.86转变为1.3,负协同效应消失. 113和129位点处阴离子别构剂脱离,从而破坏113,120和129位点间的封闭环结构,使AC交界面α7螺旋(124~129,524~529)间聚合度增强;120位点残基由Tyr转变为Pro,与Cys100间氢键断裂,亲核进攻的阻力减小,从而使酶活力提高,别构负调控消失.     

嗜热蛋白酶PH1704别构中心量子化学计算与突变体动力学

通过量子化学计算, 确定嗜热菌Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3的PH1704蛋白酶别构位点的关键残基为Arg113, Tyr120和Asn129. 其中, Arg113及Asn129与别构抑制剂结合, 参与别构调控. Tyr120残基位于亚基交界面附近, 并与亲核残基Cys100之间以氢键相连, 可通过影响亚基聚合来影响酶的亲核催化. DJ-1超家族的4种构建蛋白的结构显示, 120位点位于亚基交界面处, 影响亚基的聚合, 进而影响蛋白酶的活力, 并间接参与别构调控. 分子生物学实验显示, 突变体R113T/Y120P/N129D的k_cat/k_m(L·μmol^-1·min^-1)值是野生型k_cat/k_m值的6倍, h系数由野生型的0.86转变为1.3, 负协同效应消失. 113和129位点处阴离子别构剂脱离, 从而破坏113, 120和129位点间的封闭环结构, 使AC交界面α7螺旋(124~129, 524~529)间聚合度增强; 120位点残基由Tyr转变为Pro, 与Cys100间氢键断裂, 亲核进攻的阻力减小, 从而使酶活力提高, 别构负调控消失.     

Co-operative intra-protein structural response due to protein–protein complexation revealed through thermodynamic quantification: study of MDM2-p53 binding

The p53 protein activation protects the organism from propagation of cells with damaged DNA having oncogenic mutations. In normal cells, activity of p53 is controlled by interaction with MDM2. The well understood p53-MDM2 interaction facilitates design of ligands that could potentially disrupt or prevent the complexation owing to its emergence as an important objective for cancer therapy. However, thermodynamic quantification of the p53-peptide induced structural changes of the MDM2-protein remains an area to be explored. This study attempts to understand the conformational free energy and entropy costs due to this complex formation from the histograms of dihedral angles generated from molecular dynamics simulations. Residue-specific quantification illustrates that, hydrophobic residues of the protein contribute maximum to the conformational thermodynamic changes. Thermodynamic quantification of structural changes of the protein unfold the fact that, p53 binding provides a source of inter-element cooperativity among the protein secondary structural elements, where the highest affected structural elements (α2 and α4) found at the binding site of the protein affects faraway structural elements (β1 and Loop1) of the protein. The communication perhaps involves water mediated hydrogen bonded network formation. Further, we infer that in inhibitory F19A mutation of P53, though Phe19 is important in the recognition process, it has less prominent contribution in the stability of the complex. Collectively, this study provides vivid microscopic understanding of the interaction within the protein complex along with exploring mutation sites, which will contribute further to engineer the protein function and binding affinity.     

Electrocatalytic monitoring of metal binding and mutation-induced conformational changes in p53 at picomole level

We developed an innovative electrochemical method for monitoring conformational transitions in proteins using constant current chronopotentiometric stripping (CPS) with dithiothreitol-modified mercury electrodes. The method was applied to study the effect of oncogenic mutations on the DNA-binding domain of the tumor suppressor p53. The CPS responses of wild-type and mutant p53 showed excellent correlation with structural and stability data and provided additional insights into the differential dynamic behavior of the proteins. Further, we were able to monitor the loss of an essential zinc ion resulting from mutation (R175H) or metal chelation. We envisage that our CPS method can be applied to the analysis of virtually any protein as a sensor for conformational transitions or ligand binding to complement conventional techniques, but with the added benefit that only relatively small amounts of protein are needed and instant results are obtained. This work may lay the foundation for the wide application of electrochemistry in protein science, including proteomics and biomedicine.     

A graph theoretical approach to the effect of mutation on the flexibility of the DNA binding domain of p53 protein

Tumor suppressor protein p53 becomes inactive due to mutation on its DNA binding core domain leading to misbehavior of this protein and preventing its interaction with DNA. In the present study, changes of the protein conformation by five hot spot mutations of T-p53C were assessed preventing the mutants wild-type (WT) behavior. While studies of this nature were undertaken both experimentally and theoretically, the focus is fundamentally on the effects of the mutation on the dynamics of the protein. Hence, the basic concept underlying this study is the change in flexibility or rigidity of the protein. It was found that stable variant T-p53C (PDB-ID: 1uol) that is structurally and functionally very close to wild-type p53 is the most rigid structure and each single carcinogenic mutation on it makes the structure more flexible. We hypothesize that these changes of the molecule’s flexibility disrupt the network of hydrogen bonds associated with the interaction of WT not only at interaction but in the internal structures of the mutants as well, which prevents them from interacting in the WT fashion loosing the anti-cancer properties of WT.     

p53‐Dependent and p53‐Independent Responses of Cells Challenged by Photosensitization

The p53 protein exerts fundamental roles in cell responses to a variety of stress stimuli. It has clear roles in controlling cell cycle, triggering apoptosis, activating autophagy and modulating DNA damage response. Little is known about the role of p53 in autophagy‐associated cell death, which can be induced by photoactivation of photosensitizers within cells. The photosensitizer 1,9‐dimethyl methylene blue (DMMB) within nanomolar concentration regimes has specific intracellular targets (mitochondria and lysosomes), photoinducing a typical scenario of cell death with autophagy. Importantly, in consequence of its subcellular localization, photoactive DMMB induces selective damage to mitochondrial DNA, saving nuclear DNA. By challenging cells having different p53 protein levels, we investigated whether p53 modulates DMMB/light‐induced phototoxicity and cell cycle dynamics. Cells lacking p53 activity were slightly more resistant to photoactivated DMMB, which was correlated with a smaller sub‐G1 population, indicative of a lower level of apoptosis. DMMB photosensitization seems to induce mostly autophagy‐associated cell death and S‐phase cell cycle arrest with replication stress. Remarkably, these responses were independent on the p53 status, indicating that p53 is not involved in either process. Despite describing some p53‐related responses in cells challenged by photosensitization, our results also provide novel information on the consequences of DMMB phototoxicity.     

Quantum mechanical studies of residue-specific hydrophobic interactions in p53-MDM2 binding

Quantum chemistry calculations at the levels of MP2/cc-pVDZ and MP2/cc-PVTZ have been carried out to study residue-specific interactions at the hydrophobic p53-MDM2 binding interface. The result of the calculation, based on structures from nanosecond molecular dynamics simulation, revealed that (19)Phe, (22)Leu, and (23)Trp of p53 have the strongest binding interaction with MDM2 followed by (26)Leu and (27)Pro. The specific residues of MDM2 that have dominant binding interactions with p53 are specifically identified to be (51)Lys, (54)Leu, (62)Met, (67)Tyr, (72)Gln, (94)Lys, (96)His, and (100)Tyr. The p53-MDM2 binding interaction is dominated by van der Waals interaction and to a lesser degree by electrostatic interaction. The MP2 results are in generally good agreement with those from the force field calculation while the DFT/B3LYP calculation failed to give attractive interaction energies for certain residue-residue interactions due to the lack of dispersion energy.     

Structure of the stapled p53 peptide bound to Mdm2

Mdm2 is a major negative regulator of the tumor suppressor p53 protein, a protein that plays a crucial role in maintaining genome integrity. Inactivation of p53 is the most prevalent defect in human cancers. Inhibitors of the Mdm2-p53 interaction that restore the functional p53 constitute potential nongenotoxic anticancer agents with a novel mode of action. We present here a 2.0 ? resolution structure of the Mdm2 protein with a bound stapled p53 peptide. Such peptides, which are conformationally and proteolytically stabilized with all-hydrocarbon staples, are an emerging class of biologics that are capable of disrupting protein-protein interactions and thus have broad therapeutic potential. The structure represents the first crystal structure of an i, i + 7 stapled peptide bound to its target and reveals that rather than acting solely as a passive conformational brace, a staple can intimately interact with the surface of a protein and augment the binding interface.