Helical Content Correlations and Hydration Structures of the Folding Ensemble of the B Domain of Protein A

Autor(es)

Pereira, Ander Francisco ; Martinez, Leandro

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL INFORMATION AND MODELING; v. 64, n. 8, p. 10-pg., 2024-04-03.

Resumo

The B domain of protein A (BdpA), a small three-helix bundle, folds on a time scale of a few microseconds with heterogeneous native and unfolded states. It is widely used as a model for understanding protein folding mechanisms. In this work, we use structure-based models (SBMs) and atomistic simulations to comprehensively investigate how BdpA folding is associated with the formation of its secondary structure. The energy landscape visualization method (ELViM) was used to characterize the pathways that connect the folded and unfolded states of BdpA as well as the sets of structures displaying specific ellipticity patterns. We show that the native state conformational diversity is due mainly to the conformational variability of helix I. Helices I, II, and III occur in a weakly correlated manner, with Spearman's rank correlation coefficients of 0.1539 (I and II), 0.1259 (I and III), and 0.2561 (II and III). These results, therefore, suggest the highest cooperativity between helices II and III. Our results allow the clustering of partially folded structures of folding of the B domain of protein A on the basis of its secondary structure, paving the way to an understanding of environmental factors in the relative stability of the basins of the folding ensemble, which are illustrated by the structural dependency of the protein hydration structures, as computed with minimum-distance distribution functions. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 10/16947-9 - Estrutura, dinâmica e função em proteínas: simulação computacional e desenvolvimento de algoritmos
• Beneficiário: Leandro Martinez
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 20/04549-0 - Efeitos de solvente na termodinâmica do enovelamento de proteínas
• Beneficiário: Ander Francisco Pereira
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 18/14274-9 - Determinação de estruturas de proteínas usando restrições de distância obtidas de experimentos de ligação cruzada: métodos computacionais e aplicações
• Beneficiário: Leandro Martinez
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 18/24293-0 - Métodos computacionais de otimização
• Beneficiário: Sandra Augusta Santos
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Temático
• Processo FAPESP: 13/08293-7 - CECC - Centro de Engenharia e Ciências Computacionais
• Beneficiário: Munir Salomao Skaf
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Centros de Pesquisa, Inovação e Difusão - CEPIDs