Protein Structure and Dynamics from EPR Spectroscopy and MD Simulations

描述(由申请人提供)：该计划项目的长期目标是开发可用于从蛋白质的定点定向自旋标记(SDSL)研究中提取准确结构和动力学信息的计算工具。这些新的工具构成了一项重要的使能技术，可以确定广泛的可溶性和膜结合蛋白质及其复合体的结构和功能动力学。因此，这些工具应该会对范德比尔特大学和其他地方的蛋白质SDSL研究产生立竿见影的重大影响，我们打算让这个项目中开发的所有软件和计算协议免费提供给其他机构的同事。 该计划项目的具体目标是：1)开发分子动力学和分子建模协议，使我们能够将自旋标记迁移率和可及性的EPR测量与蛋白质结构和结构波动直接相关；2)开发模拟工具和协议，使探针间距离的EPR测量可以直接与蛋白质结构相关；3)开发通用计算协议，以便在特定目标1和2中获得的信息可以用于建立和改进结构模型；4)将AIMS 1-3中开发的工具和策略应用于已知结构的模型蛋白质T4溶菌酶、迄今仅部分表征结构的更复杂的红细胞膜蛋白CDB3以及目前结构表征不佳的淀粉样前体蛋白多肽的SDSL数据。这些特定的蛋白质光谱研究将提供开发和测试计算方案所需的必要实验数据。 该项目包括在蛋白质的EPR光谱和SDSL研究(Beth和Hustedt)、膜蛋白质结构-功能研究(Beth、Lybrand和Sanders)以及使用分子建模和分子模拟工具从光谱和其他生物物理研究(Lybrand和Smith)获得的距离数据精炼蛋白质三维结构方面拥有丰富经验的研究人员。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term objectives of this program project are to develop computational tools that can be used to extract accurate structural and dynamical information from site-directed spin-labeling (SDSL) studies on proteins. These new tools constitute an essential enabling technology to determine the structures and functional dynamics for a wide range of soluble and membrane-bound proteins and their complexes. As such, these tools should have an immediate and significant impact on SDSL studies of proteins here at Vanderbilt and elsewhere, and we intend to make all software and computational protocols developed in this program project freely available to colleagues at other institutions. The specific aims of this program project are: 1) develop molecular dynamics and molecular modeling protocols to enable us to directly correlate EPR measurements of spin label mobility and accessibility with protein structure and structural fluctuations; 2) develop simulation tools and protocols so that EPR measurements of inter-probe distances can be related directly to protein structure; 3) develop a general computational protocol so that information obtained in Specific Aims 1 and 2 can be used to build and refine structural models; and 4) apply the tools and strategies developed in Aims 1-3 to SDSL data obtained for T4 lysozyme, a model protein of known structure, for CDB3, a more complex erythrocyte membrane protein that is to date only partially characterized structurally, and for amyloid precursor protein peptides that are not well characterized structurally at this time. These specific protein spectroscopic studies will provide the requisite experimental data necessary to develop and test the computational protocols. This program includes investigators with extensive experience in EPR spectroscopy and SDSL studies of proteins (Beth and Hustedt), membrane protein structure-function studies (Beth, Lybrand, and Sanders), and use of molecular modeling and molecular simulation tools to refine three-dimensional protein structures from distance data obtained from spectroscopic and other biophysical studies (Lybrand and Smith).