Chemoreceptor TlpB（Tlp=transducer-like protein）, which has been demonstrated to respond to pH sensing function, is crucial for the survival ofHelicobacterpylori（H, pylori） in host stomach. Urea was proposed to be essen- tial for TlpB＇s pH sensing function via binding with the Per-ARNT-Sim（PAS） domain of TlpB. Additionally, KI66R mutation of the TlpB protein has also been proven to have a similar effect on TlpB pH sensing as urea binding. Al- though X-ray crystallographic studies have been carried out for urea-bound Tlpl3, the molecular mechanism for the stabilization of TIpB induced by urea binding and K166R mutation remains to be elucidated. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations combined with principal component analysis（PCA） for the simulation results were used to gain an insight into the molecular mechanism of the stabilization of urea on TlpB protein. The formed H-bonds and salt-bridges surrounding Aspll4, which were induced by both urea binding and K166R mutation of TIpB, were im- portant to the stabilization of TlpB by urea. The similarity between the urea binding and K166R mutation as well as their differences in effect has been explicitly demonstrated with computer simulations at atomic-level. The findings may Dave the wav for the further researches of TlpB.
WU Yunjian ZHENG Qingchuan XU Yu CHU Wenting CUI Yinglu WANG Yan ZHANG Hongxing
Cytochrome P450（CYP） 2El is a dual function monoxygenase with a crucial role in the metabolism of 6% of drugs on the market at present. The enzyme is of tremendous interest for its association with alcohol consumption, diabetes, obesity and fasting. Despite the abundant experimental mutagenesis data, the molecular origin and the structural motifs for the enzymatic activity deficiencies have not been rationalized at the atomic level. In this regard, we have investigated the effects of mutation on the structural and energetic characteristics upon single point mutations in CYP2E1, N219D and $366C. The molecular dynamics（MD） simulation combined with quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics（QM/MM） and noncovalent interaction（NCI） analysis was carried out on CYP2EI and its two mutants. The results highlight the critical role of Phe207, which is responsible for both structural flexibility and energetic variation, shortening the gap between the theory and the experimentally observed results of enzymatic activity decrease, The underlying molecular mechanism of the enzymatic activity deficiencies for mutants may be attributed to the changes of spatial position of Phe207 in the two mutants. This work provides particular explanations to how mutations affect ligand-receptor interactions based on combined MD and QM/MM calculations. Furthermore, the mutational effects on the activity of CYP2E1 obtained in the present study are beneficial to both the experimental and the computational works of CYPs and may allow researchers to achieve desirable changes in enzymatic activity.
WANG Yan ZHENG Qingchuan ZHANG Jilong XIE Mo ZHAN Jiuyu ZHANG Hongxing
