| 1. |
- Jabak, Adam A., et al.
(författare)
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Effect of Chirality on the Elastic Properties of the DNA-Threading Binuclear Ruthenium Complex
- 2020
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 118:3, Supplement 1, s. 617a-
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Transition metal-based small molecules have been promising candidates for cancer treatments. A certain type of these molecules falls into a category known as threading intercalators, that have a dumbbell shape with a flat intercalating section in between bulky side chains. In order to bind to DNA, they must thread one of their bulky side chains through the DNA base pairs. The ruthenium-based molecule, ΛΛ-[μ-bidppz(phen)4Ru2]4+ (ΛΛ-P for short), is a transition metal-based threading intercalator. We use optical tweezers to study the interactions of ΛΛ-P with DNA to compare it with the previously studied ΔΔ-P, a complex that has the same chemical components but an opposite chirality. In these studies, we use the optical tweezers to trap a single DNA molecule and stretch it in the presence of various concentrations of ΛΛ-P. The DNA stretches obtained at saturated concentrations of ΛΛ-P at various forces allows us to obtain the effective elastic properties of the DNA-ΛΛ-P complex. This allows us to compare these properties to the previously studied ΔΔ-P complex to determine whether chirality has an effect. This type of comparison may lead us towards a better understanding of the role chirality has towards DNA binding.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Ambrosetti, Elena, et al.
(författare)
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A DNA-nanoassembly-based approach to map membrane protein nanoenvironments
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Nanotechnology. - Stockholm : Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics. - 1748-3387 .- 1748-3395. ; 120:3, s. 273A-274A
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Most proteins at the plasma membrane are not uniformly distributed but localize to dynamic domains of nanoscale dimensions. To investigate their functional relevance, there is a need for methods that enable comprehensive analysis of the compositions and spatial organizations of membrane protein nanodomains in cell populations. Here we describe the development of a non-microscopy based method for ensemble analysis of membrane protein nanodomains. The method, termed NANOscale DEciphEring of membrane Protein nanodomains (NanoDeep), is based on the use of DNA nanoassemblies to translate membrane protein organization information into a DNA sequencing readout. Using NanoDeep, we characterised the nanoenvironments of Her2, a membrane receptor of critical relevance in cancer. Importantly, we were able to modulate by design the inventory of proteins analysed by NanoDeep. NanoDeep has the potential to provide new insights into the roles of the composition and spatial organization of protein nanoenvironments in the regulation of membrane protein function.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Baker, Joseph, et al.
(författare)
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Unveiling the Contributions of Secondary Structure and Disulfide Bonds for Bacterial Adhesion Pili Extension using a Multiscale Approach
- 2021
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Bacterial adhesion pili are essential virulence factors for many pathogenic Escherichia coli, including bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UPEC) and diarrheal diseases (ETEC). To sustain adhesion under forces similar to those in the fluid environments of the urinary tract and gastrointestinal tract, these pili (also called fimbriae) can extend to over seven times their original length. Both UPEC and ETEC can uncoil their quaternary structure under pulling force and re-coil to their helical form when the force is reduced, as observed using optical tweezers. However, after extension to a linear polymer UPEC undergo an additional reversible conformational change, that is not seen in ETEC. The mechanism for this conformational change in UPEC is not known. Therefore, to obtain a comprehensive picture of pilus extension we have taken a synergistic approach that combines optical tweezer experiments, structural data from cryo-EM, and steered molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the response of pilin subunits to force.Our multi-faceted approach provides novel molecular-scale insights into the structural changes that occur in UPEC and ETEC pili under pulling forces. We find that the conformational change observed in UPEC pili in optical tweezer experiments is correlated with the presence of an alpha helix. In addition, structural analysis and steered molecular dynamics simulations show that there is a disulfide bond that provides additional stability of UPEC pilin subunits that is not observed in ETEC pilins, which lack cysteine residues. Together, these results suggest that the mechanism of extension of bacterial adhesion pili is related to their environmental niche, and the magnitude of fluid forces in the urinary tract versus the GI tract.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Braun, Gabriel A., et al.
(författare)
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Deuterium-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Histidine pKa Determination in a pH-Responsive Hydrogel
- 2020
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495. ; 119:9, s. 1701-1705
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report here a method for the determination of the pKa of histidine in complex or heterogeneous systems amenable to neither solid-state nor solution NMR spectroscopy. Careful synthesis of a fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl- and trityl-protected, C2-deuterated histidine produces a vibrational-probe-equipped amino acid that can readily be incorporated into any peptide accessible by standard solid-phase methods. The frequency of the unique, Raman-active stretching vibration of this C2-D probe is a clear reporter of the protonation state of histidine. We investigate here a pH-sensitive peptide that self-assembles to form a hydrogel at neutral pH. The pKa of the lone histidine residue in the peptide, which is likely responsible for this pH-dependent behavior, cannot be investigated by NMR spectroscopy because of the supramolecular, soft nature of the gel. However, after synthesizing a C2-deuterated-histidine-containing peptide, we were able to follow the protonation state of histidine throughout a pH titration using Raman difference spectroscopy, thereby precisely determining the pKa of interest.
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
- Caporaletti, Francesca, 1990-, et al.
(författare)
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Small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering of MexR and its complex with DNA supports a conformational selection binding model.
- 2023
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Cell Press. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 122:2, s. 408-418
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work, we used Small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering (SAS) to reveal the shape of the protein-DNA complex of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P.aeruginosa) transcriptional regulator MexR, a member of the MarR family, when bound to one of its native DNA binding sites. Several MarR-like proteins, including MexR, repress the expression of efflux pump proteins by binding to DNA on regulatory sites overlapping with promoter regions. When expressed, efflux-proteins self-assemble to form multiprotein complexes and actively expel highly toxic compounds out of the host organism. The mutational pressure on efflux-regulating MarR family proteins is high since deficient DNA binding leads to constitutive expression of efflux pumps and thereby supports acquired multidrug resistance. Understanding the functional outcome of such mutations and their effects on DNA binding has been hampered by the scarcity of structural and dynamic characterisation of both free and DNA-bound MarR proteins. Here, we show how combined neutron and X-ray small-angle scattering (SAS) of both states in solution support a conformational selection model that enhances MexR asymmetry in binding to one of its promoter-overlapping DNA binding sites.
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| 16. |
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| 17. |
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| 18. |
- Choudhury, Koushik, et al.
(författare)
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An open state of a voltage-gated sodium channel involving a p-helix and conserved pore-facing asparagine
- 2022
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 121:1, s. 11-22
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels play critical roles in propagating action potentials and otherwise manipulating ionic gradients in excitable cells. These channels open in response to membrane depolarization, selectively permeating sodium ions until rapidly inactivating. Structural characterization of the gating cycle in this channel family has proved challenging, particularly due to the transient nature of the open state. A structure from the bacterium Magnetococcus marinus Nav (NavMs) was initially proposed to be open, based on its pore diameter and voltage-sensor conformation. However, the functional annotation of this model, and the structural details of the open state, remain disputed. In this work, we used molecular modeling and simulations to test possible open-state models of NavMs. The full-length experimental structure, termed here the cc-model, was consistently dehydrated at the activation gate, indicating an inability to conduct ions. Based on a spontaneous transition observed in extended simulations, and sequence/structure comparison to other Nav channels, we built an alternative p-model featuring a helix transition and the rotation of a conserved asparagine residue into the activation gate. Pore hydration, ion permeation, and state-dependent drug binding in this model were consistent with an open functional state. This work thus offers both a functional annotation of the full-length NavMs structure and a detailed model for a stable Nav open state, with potential conservation in diverse ion-channel families.
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
- Chouliara, Manto, et al.
(författare)
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Single-cell measurements of two-dimensional binding affinity across cell contacts
- 2021
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495. ; 120:22, s. 5032-5040
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The two-dimensional (2D) affinity between protein molecules across contacting cells is a key parameter regulating and initiating several cellular processes. However, measuring 2D affinity can be challenging, and experimental data are limited. In addition, the obtained 2D affinities are typically averaged over the cell population. We here present a method to measure 2D affinity on single cells binding to polyhistidine-tagged fluorescent ligands anchored to a supported lipid bilayer (SLB). By decreasing the density of ligands in the SLB using imidazole, a new steady-state accumulation in the contact is obtained, and from this change, both the 2D affinity and the number of receptors on the cell can be determined. The method was validated on an SLB containing rat CD2 binding to the rat CD48 mutant T92A expressed on Jurkat T cells. The addition of imidazole did not influence the average 2D affinity (1/Kd), and the spread in affinities within the cell population was low, Kd = 4.9 ± 0.9 molecules/μm2 (mean ± SD), despite an order of magnitude spread in ligand accumulation because of differences in receptor density. It was also found that cell contact size increased both with ligand density and with the number of receptors per cell but that the contact size stayed approximately constant when lowering the ligand density, above a density of around 10 rat CD2 molecules/μm2, after the contact first had formed, indicative of a heterogeneous process. In summary, this method not only allows for single-cell affinities to be measured, but it can also reduce measurement and analysis time and improve measurement accuracy. Because of the low spread in 2D Kd within the cell population, the analysis can further be restricted to the cells showing the strongest binding, paving the way for using this method to study weak binding events.
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| 21. |
- Clifton, Luke A., et al.
(författare)
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Insight into Bcl-2 proteins' functioning at mitochondrial membrane level
- 2023
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 122:3S1, s. 232a-232a
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Programmed cell death (apoptosis) is essential in life. In its intrinsic apoptotic pathway opposing members of the B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) protein family control the permeability of the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM) and the release of apoptotic factors such as cytochrome c. Any misregulation of this process can cause disorders most prominently cancer, where often upregulation of cell protecting (anti-apoptotic) Bcl-2 members such as the Bcl-2 membrane protein itself plays a notorious role by blocking MOM perforation by - often drug induced - apoptotic proteins such as Bax which would cause cancer cell death normally. Here, we apply neutron reflectometry (NR) on supported lipid bilayers which mimic MOM environment and solid state/liquid state NMR spectroscopy to unravel the molecular basis driving opposing proteins to interact with each other at the MOM; a mechanism which is not really understood yet due to lack of high-resolution structural insight. Based on our central hypothesis that Bcl-2 drives its cell-protecting function at a membrane-embedded location as revealed by NR (1), we focus i) to determine the structure of human Bcl-2 protein in its membrane setting by combining solution and solid-state NMR; ii) use NR to study the kinetics and lipid/protein pore assemblied upon binding of Bax to mitochondrial membranes and its membrane destroying activities there; and iii) unravel the nature of direct interaction between Bcl-2 and Bax to neutralize each other. Knowledge generated here, will be indispensable in understanding the regulative function of the Bcl-2 family at mitochondrial membranes.
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| 22. |
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| 23. |
- Dahlberg, Tobias, 1990-, et al.
(författare)
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Unveiling molecular interactions that stabilize bacterial adhesion pili
- 2022
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Biophysical Society. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 121:11, s. 2096-2106
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adhesion pili assembled by the chaperone-usher pathway are superelastic helical filaments on the surface of bacteria, optimized for attachment to target cells. Here, we investigate the biophysical function and structural interactions that stabilize P pili from uropathogenic bacteria. Using optical tweezers, we measure P pilus subunit-subunit interaction dynamics and show that pilus compliance is contour-length dependent. Atomic details of subunit-subunit interactions of pili under tension are shown using steered molecular dynamics (sMD) simulations. sMD results also indicate that the N-terminal “staple” region of P pili, which provides interactions with pilins that are four and five subunits away, significantly stabilizes the helical filament structure. These data are consistent with previous structural data, and suggest that more layer-to-layer interactions could compensate for the lack of a staple in type 1 pili. This study informs our understanding of essential structural and dynamic features of adhesion pili, supporting the hypothesis that the function of pili is critically dependent on their structure and biophysical properties.
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| 24. |
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| 25. |
- Doran, Matthew, et al.
(författare)
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CS20 bridge the gap between class 1 and class 5 bacterial adhesion pili
- 2022
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Cell press. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 121:3, suppl. 1, s. 168a-168a
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) are pathogenic bacteria that cause diarrheal disease that disrupts the nutrition and the growth of children under the age of 5 and causes illness in travelers to countries where these bacteria are endemic. ETEC express long thin helical filaments on their surface, ∼1 micron long and 8 nm in diameter, called pili or fimbriae. Often essential virulence factors, these filaments, including ETEC CS20 pili, are composed of approximately 1,000 copies of the major pilin protein and one copy of a tip protein that provides binding specificity. While the structures of ETEC pili from different strains are similar, there are critical differences that alter their biophysical properties.ETEC express Class 1 and/or Class 5 pilins. The Class 1 CS20 pilin, CsbA, is genetically similar to FimA from Type 1 pili that are expressed on many strains of Escherichia coli, including bacteria that infect the urinary tract or the gastrointestinal tract, and also to PapA pilins expressed on bacteria that infect the kidneys. Thus, despite CS20 being expressed on ETEC, its pilin is genetically distant from the Class 5 CFA/I pilin, CfaB, the most commonly expressed ETEC pilin.We show here the three-dimensional structure and surface coulombic charge of CS20 pili, determined at 3.4 Å resolution by electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM). Our force spectroscopy data show that CS20 pili have a helix unwinding force that is twice that of CFA/I pili, and half that of Type 1 pili. Molecular dynamics simulations are further used to unveil features along the unwinding pathway at an atomistic scale. We see that CS20 pili bridge the genetic and environmental gap between Class 1 and Class 5 adhesion pili that are expressed on pathogenic bacteria.
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| 26. |
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| 27. |
- Fleetwood, Oliver, et al.
(författare)
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Molecular Insights from Conformational Ensembles via Machine Learning
- 2020
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Biophysical Society. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 118:3, s. 765-780
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biomolecular simulations are intrinsically high dimensional and generate noisy data sets of ever-increasing size. Extracting important features from the data is crucial for understanding the biophysical properties of molecular processes, but remains a big challenge. Machine learning (ML) provides powerful dimensionality reduction tools. However, such methods are often criticized as resembling black boxes with limited human-interpretable insight. We use methods from supervised and unsupervised ML to efficiently create interpretable maps of important features from molecular simulations. We benchmark the performance of several methods, including neural networks, random forests, and principal component analysis, using a toy model with properties reminiscent of macromolecular behavior. We then analyze three diverse biological processes: conformational changes within the soluble protein calmodulin, ligand binding to a G protein-coupled receptor, and activation of an ion channel voltage-sensor domain, unraveling features critical for signal transduction, ligand binding, and voltage sensing. This work demonstrates the usefulness of ML in understanding biomolecular states and demystifying complex simulations.
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| 28. |
- Gabba, M., et al.
(författare)
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Weak Acid Permeation in Synthetic Lipid Vesicles and Across the Yeast Plasma Membrane
- 2020
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Biophysical Society. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 118:2, s. 422-434
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a fluorescence-based approach for determination of the permeability of small molecules across the membranes of lipid vesicles and living cells. With properly designed experiments, the method allows us to assess the membrane physical properties both in vitro and in vivo. We find that the permeability of weak acids increases in the order of benzoic > acetic > formic > lactic, both in synthetic lipid vesicles and the plasma membrane of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but the permeability is much lower in yeast (one to two orders of magnitude). We observe a relation between the molecule permeability and the saturation of the lipid acyl chain (i.e., lipid packing) in the synthetic lipid vesicles. By analyzing wild-type yeast and a manifold knockout strain lacking all putative lactic acid transporters, we conclude that the yeast plasma membrane is impermeable to lactic acid on timescales up to ∼2.5 h.
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| 29. |
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| 30. |
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| 31. |
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| 32. |
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| 33. |
- Giraldo, Ana M. Villamil, et al.
(författare)
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Measuring single-virus fusion kinetics using an assay for nucleic acid exposure
- 2022
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 121:23, s. 4467-4475
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The kinetics by which individual enveloped viruses fuse with membranes provide an important window into viral-entry mechanisms. We have developed a real-time assay using fluorescent probes for single-virus genome exposure than can report on stages of viral entry including or subsequent to fusion pore formation and prior to viral genome trafficking. We accom-plish this using oxazole yellow nucleic-acid-binding dyes, which can be encapsulated in the lumen of target membranes to permit specific detection of fusion events. Since increased fluorescence of the dye occurs only when it encounters viral genome via a fusion pore and binds, this assay excludes content leakage without fusion. Using this assay, we show that influenza virus fuses with liposomes of different sizes with indistinguishable kinetics by both testing liposomes extruded through pores of different radii and showing that the fusion kinetics of individual liposomes are uncorrelated with the size of the liposome. These results suggest that the starting curvature of such liposomes does not control the rate-limiting steps in influenza entry.
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| 34. |
- Gironella-Torrent, Marta, et al.
(författare)
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Viscoelastic phenotyping of red blood cells
- 2024
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Ingår i: BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 123:7, s. 770-781
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Red blood cells (RBCs) are the simplest cell types with complex dynamical and viscoelastic phenomenology. While the mechanical rigidity and the flickering noise of RBCs have been extensively investigated, an accurate determination of the constitutive equations of the relaxational kinetics is lacking. Here we measure the force relaxation of RBCs under different types of tensional and compressive extension-jump protocols by attaching an optically trapped bead to the RBC membrane. Relaxational kinetics follows linear response from 60 pN (tensional) to similar to 20 pN (compressive) applied forces, exhibiting a triple exponential function with three well-separated timescales over four decades (0.01-100 s). While the fast timescale (tau(F) similar to 0.02(1) s) corresponds to the relaxation of the membrane, the intermediate and slow timescales (tau(I) = 4(1) s; tau(S) = 70(8) s) likely arise from the cortex dynamics and the cytosol viscosity. Relaxation is highly heterogeneous across the RBC population, yet the three relaxation times are correlated, showing dynamical scaling. Finally, we find that glucose depletion and laser illumination of RBCs lead to faster triple exponential kinetics and RBC rigidification. Viscoelastic phenotyping is a promising dynamical biomarker applicable to other cell types and active systems. SIGNIFICANCE This research shows the structured viscoelastic dynamics of red blood cells (RBCs) and highlights the significance of considering multiple timescales for understanding their mechanical behavior. The observed triple exponential relaxation behavior, coupled with the proposed viscoelastic model, provides valuable insights into the underlying processes governing RBC mechanics. Furthermore, our findings regarding the impact of glucose depletion and light illumination on RBC rigidity show how environmental factors affect RBC properties. Our results expand the current knowledge of RBC mechanics and pave the way for future investigations of relaxational phenomena in other cell types.
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| 35. |
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| 36. |
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| 37. |
- Gustavsson, Emil, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Modulation of Structural Heterogeneity Controls Phytochrome Photoswitching
- 2020
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 118:2, s. 415-421
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Phytochromes sense red/far-red light and control many biological processes in plants, fungi, and bacteria. Although the crystal structures of dark- and light-adapted states have been determined, the molecular mechanisms underlying photoactivation remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the conserved tongue region of the PHY domain of a 57-kDa photosensory module of Deinococcus radiodurans phytochrome changes from a structurally heterogeneous dark state to an ordered, light-activated state. The results were obtained in solution by utilizing a laser-triggered activation approach detected on the atomic level with high-resolution protein NMR spectroscopy. The data suggest that photosignaling of phytochromes relies on careful modulation of structural heterogeneity of the PHY tongue.
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| 38. |
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| 39. |
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| 40. |
- Homouz, Dirar M., et al.
(författare)
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Role of Zero-Order Loop in Protein Unfolding Case Study with Apoazurin
- 2020
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 118:3, Supplement 1, s. 197A-197A
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa apoazurin (apo, without the copper cofactor) is a two-state folder that has a single disulfide bond between residues 3 and 26. This bond covalently connects the N-termini of beta-strands 1 and 3; thereby it creates a zero-order loop. The loop restricts the conformational space for the apoazurin polypeptide. In order to understand the role played by the zero-order loop, we used molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to compare two variants of apoazurin; one variant called “loop” which contained the disulfide and another called “open” in which the disulfide bond between residues 3 and 26 was removed. MD simulations were performed to probe the unfolding pathway and stability of the two apoazurin variants at different urea concentrations and temperatures. Our results show that the folded structure apoazurin is somewhat more stable due to the presence of the disulfide bond. However, the disulfide bond plays a prominent role in the apoazurin unfolding mechanism: we find that it changes both the folding-transition state and the unfolded-state ensemble of conformations.
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| 41. |
- Horvath, Istvan, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Distinct growth regimes of α-synuclein amyloid elongation
- 2023
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 122:12, s. 2556-2563
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Addition of amyloid seeds to aggregation-prone monomers allows for amyloid fiber growth (elongation) omitting slow nucleation. We here combine Thioflavin T fluorescence (probing formation of amyloids) and solution-state NMR spectroscopy (probing disappearance of monomers) to assess elongation kinetics of the amyloidogenic protein, α-synuclein, for which aggregation is linked to Parkinson's disease. We found that both spectroscopic detection methods give similar kinetic results, which can be fitted by applying double exponential decay functions. When the origin of the two-phase behavior was analyzed by mathematical modeling, parallel paths as well as stop-and-go behavior were excluded as possible explanations. Instead, supported by previous theory, the experimental elongation data reveal distinct kinetic regimes that depend on instantaneous monomer concentration. At low monomer concentrations (toward end of experiments), amyloid growth is limited by conformational changes resulting in β-strand alignments. At the higher monomer concentrations (initial time points of experiments), growth occurs rapidly by incorporating monomers that have not successfully completed the conformational search. The presence of a fast disordered elongation regime at high monomer concentrations agrees with coarse-grained simulations and theory but has not been detected experimentally before. Our results may be related to the wide range of amyloid folds observed.
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| 42. |
- Horvath, Istvan, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Macromolecular crowding modulates α-synuclein amyloid fiber growth
- 2021
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 120:16, s. 3374-3381
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The crowdedness of living cells, hundreds of milligrams per milliliter of macromolecules, may affect protein folding, function, and misfolding. Still, such processes are most often studied in dilute solutions in vitro. To assess consequences of the in vivo milieu, we here investigated the effects of macromolecular crowding on the amyloid fiber formation reaction of α-synuclein, the amyloidogenic protein in Parkinson's disease. For this, we performed spectroscopic experiments probing individual steps of the reaction as a function of the macromolecular crowding agent Ficoll70, which is an inert sucrose-based polymer that provides excluded-volume effects. The experiments were performed at neutral pH at quiescent conditions to avoid artifacts due to shaking and glass beads (typical conditions for α-synuclein), using amyloid fiber seeds to initiate reactions. We find that both primary nucleation and fiber elongation steps during α-synuclein amyloid formation are accelerated by the presence of 140 and 280 mg/mL Ficoll70. Moreover, in the presence of Ficoll70 at neutral pH, secondary nucleation appears favored, resulting in faster overall α-synuclein amyloid formation. In contrast, sucrose, a small-molecule osmolyte and building block of Ficoll70, slowed down α-synuclein amyloid formation. The ability of cell environments to modulate reaction kinetics to a large extent, such as severalfold faster individual steps in α-synuclein amyloid formation, is an important consideration for biochemical reactions in living systems.
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| 43. |
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| 44. |
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| 45. |
- Jabak, Adam A., et al.
(författare)
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Left versus right: Exploring the effects of chiral threading intercalators using optical tweezers
- 2022
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 121:19, s. 3745-3752
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Small-molecule DNA-binding drugs have shown promising results in clinical use against many types of cancer. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of DNA binding for such small molecules can be critical in advancing future drug designs. We have been exploring the interactions of ruthenium-based small molecules and their DNA-binding properties that are highly relevant in the development of novel metal-based drugs. Previously we have studied the effects of the right-handed binuclear ruthenium threading intercalator ΔΔ-[μ-bidppz(phen)4Ru2]4+, or ΔΔ-P for short, which showed extremely slow kinetics and high-affinity binding to DNA. Here we investigate the left-handed enantiomer ΛΛ-[μ-bidppz(phen)4Ru2]4+, or ΛΛ-P for short, to study the effects of chirality on DNA threading intercalation. We employ single-molecule optical trapping experiments to understand the molecular mechanisms and nanoscale structural changes that occur during DNA binding and unbinding as well as the association and dissociation rates. Despite the similar threading intercalation binding mode of the two enantiomers, our data show that the left-handed ΛΛ-P complex requires increased lengthening of the DNA to thread, and it extends the DNA more than double the length at equilibrium compared with the right-handed ΔΔ-P. We also observed that the left-handed ΛΛ-P complex unthreads three times faster than ΔΔ-P. These results, along with a weaker binding affinity estimated for ΛΛ-P, suggest a preference in DNA binding to the chiral enantiomer having the same right-handed chirality as the DNA molecule, regardless of their common intercalating moiety. This comparison provides a better understanding of how chirality affects binding to DNA and may contribute to the development of enhanced potential cancer treatment drug designs.
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| 46. |
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| 47. |
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| 48. |
- Johnson, Graham T., et al.
(författare)
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Building the next generation of virtual cells to understand cellular biology
- 2023
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 122:18, s. 3560-3569
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cell science has made significant progress by focusing on understanding individual cellular processes through reductionist approaches. However, the sheer volume of knowledge collected presents challenges in integrating this information across different scales of space and time to comprehend cellular behaviors, as well as making the data and methods more accessible for the community to tackle complex biological questions. This perspective proposes the creation of next-generation virtual cells, which are dynamic 3D models that integrate information from diverse sources, including simulations, biophysical models, image-based models, and evidence-based knowledge graphs. These virtual cells would provide statistically accurate and holistic views of real cells, bridging the gap between theoretical concepts and experimental data, and facilitating productive new collaborations among researchers across related fields.
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- Jonsmoen, Unni Lise, et al.
(författare)
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Endospore pili - flexible, stiff and sticky nanofibers
- 2023
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 122:13, s. 2696-2706
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Species belonging to the Bacillus cereus group form endospores (spores) whose surface is decorated with micrometers-long and nanometers-wide endospore appendages (Enas). The Enas have recently been shown to represent a completely novel class of Gram-positive pili. They exhibit remarkable structural properties making them extremely resilient to proteolytic digestion and solubilization. However, little is known about their functional and biophysical properties. In this work, we apply optical tweezers to manipulate and assess how wild type and Ena-depleted mutant spores immobilize on a glass surface. Further, we utilize optical tweezers to extend S-Ena fibers to measure their flexibility and tensile stiffness. Finally, by oscillating single spores, we examine how the exosporium and Enas affect spores’ hydrodynamic properties. Our results show that S-Enas (μm long pili) are not as effective as L-Enas in immobilizing spores to glass surfaces but are involved in forming spore to spore connections, holding the spores together in a gel-like state. The measurements also show that S-Enas are flexible but tensile stiff fibers, which support structural data suggesting that the quaternary structure is composed of subunits arranged in a complex to produce a bendable fiber (helical turns can tilt against each other) with limited axial fiber extensibility. Lastly, the results show that the hydrodynamic drag is 1.5-times higher for wild type spores expressing S- and L-Enas compared to mutant spores expressing only L-Enas or ”bald spores” lacking Ena, and 2-times higher compared to spores of the exosporium deficient strain. This study unveils novel findings on the biophysics of S- and L-Enas, their role in spore aggregation, binding of spores to glass, and their mechanical behavior upon exposure to drag forces.
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