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7 Publications visible to you, out of a total of 7
Structural basis for the enhanced activity of cyclic antimicrobial peptides: The case of BPC194

Abstract (Expand)

We report the molecular basis for the differences in activity of cyclic and linear antimicrobial peptides. We iteratively performed atomistic molecular dynamics simulations and biophysical measurements … to probe the interaction of a cyclic antimicrobial peptide and its inactive linear analogue with model membranes. We establish that, relative to the linear peptide, the cyclic one binds stronger to negatively charged membranes. We show that only the cyclic peptide folds at the membrane interface and adopts a beta-sheet structure characterised by two turns. Subsequently, the cyclic peptide penetrates deeper into the bilayer while the linear peptide remains essentially at the surface. Finally, based on our comparative study, we propose a model characterising the mode of action of cyclic antimicrobial peptides. The results provide a chemical rationale for enhanced activity in certain cyclic antimicrobial peptides and can be used as a guideline for design of novel antimicrobial peptides.

Authors: , Gemma Moiset, Anna D Cirac, Lidia Feliu, Eduard Bardají, Marta Planas, Durba Sengupta, Siewert J Marrink,

Date Published: 19th May 2011

Publication Type: Not specified

The molecular basis for antimicrobial activity of pore-forming cyclic peptides

Abstract (Expand)

The mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptides is, to our knowledge, still poorly understood. To probe the biophysical characteristics that confer activity, we present here a molecular-dynamics and … biophysical study of a cyclic antimicrobial peptide and its inactive linear analog. In the simulations, the cyclic peptide caused large perturbations in the bilayer and cooperatively opened a disordered toroidal pore, 1-2 nm in diameter. Electrophysiology measurements confirm discrete poration events of comparable size. We also show that lysine residues aligning parallel to each other in the cyclic but not linear peptide are crucial for function. By employing dual-color fluorescence burst analysis, we show that both peptides are able to fuse/aggregate liposomes but only the cyclic peptide is able to porate them. The results provide detailed insight on the molecular basis of activity of cyclic antimicrobial peptides.

Authors: Anna D Cirac, Gemma Moiset, , Armagan Koçer, Pedro Salvador, , Siewert J Marrink, Durba Sengupta

Date Published: 18th May 2011

Publication Type: Not specified

Macromolecule diffusion and confinement in prokaryotic cells

Abstract (Expand)

We review recent observations on the mobility of macromolecules and their spatial organization in live bacterial cells. We outline the major fluorescence microscopy-based methods to determine the … mobility and thus the diffusion coefficients (D) of molecules, which is not trivial in small cells. The extremely high macromolecule crowding of prokaryotes is used to rationalize the reported lower diffusion coefficients as compared to eukaryotes, and we speculate on the nature of the barriers for diffusion observed for proteins (and mRNAs) in vivo. Building on in vitro experiments and modeling studies, we evaluate the size dependence of diffusion coefficients for macromolecules in vivo, in case of both water-soluble and integral membrane proteins. We comment on the possibilities of anomalous diffusion and provide examples where the macromolecule mobility may be limiting biological processes.

Editor:

Date Published: 16th Oct 2010

Publication Type: Not specified

Molecular sieving properties of the cytoplasm of Escherichia coli and consequences of osmotic stress

Abstract (Expand)

We determined the diffusion coefficients (D) of (macro)molecules of different sizes (from ∼0.5 to 600 kDa) in the cytoplasm of live Escherichia coli cells under normal osmotic conditions and osmotic … upshift. D values decreased with increasing molecular weight of the molecules. Upon osmotic upshift, the decrease in D of NBD-glucose was much smaller than that of macromolecules. Barriers for diffusion were found in osmotically challenged cells only for GFP and larger proteins. These barriers are likely formed by the nucleoid and crowding of the cytoplasm. The cytoplasm of E. coli appears as a meshwork allowing the free passage of small molecules while restricting the diffusion of bigger ones.

Authors: , Geert Van Den Bogaart, Liesbeth Veenhoff, Victor Krasnikov,

Date Published: 1st Jul 2010

Publication Type: Not specified

SensSB: A software toolbox for the development and sensitivity analysis of systems biology models

Abstract (Expand)

SUMMARY: SensSB (Sensitivity Analysis for Systems Biology) is an easy to use, MATLAB-based software toolbox, which integrates several local and global sensitivity methods that can be applied to a wide … variety of biological models. In addition to addressing the sensitivity analysis problem, SensSB aims to cover all the steps involved during the modeling process. The main features of SensSB are: (i) derivative and variance based global sensitivity analysis, (ii) pseudo-global identifiability analysis, (iii) optimal experimental design based on global sensitivities, (iv) robust parameter estimation, (v) local sensitivity and identifiability analysis, (vi) confidence intervals of the estimated parameters, and (vii) optimal experimental design based on the Fisher Information Matrix (FIM). SensSB is also able to import models in the Systems Biology Mark-up Language (SBML) format. Several examples from simple analytical functions to more complex biological pathways have been implemented and can be downloaded together with the toolbox. The importance of using sensitivity analysis techniques for identifying unessential parameters and designing new experiments is quantified by increased identifiability metrics of the models and decreased confidence intervals of the estimated parameters. AVAILABILITY: SensSB is a software toolbox freely downloadable from http://www.iim.csic.es/~gingproc/SensSB.html. The web site also contains several examples and an extensive documentation. CONTACT: mrodriguez@iim.csic.es.

Editor:

Date Published: 7th May 2010

Publication Type: Not specified

The role of biomacromolecular crowding, ionic strength, and physicochemical gradients in the complexities of life's emergence

Abstract (Expand)

We have developed a general scenario of prebiotic physicochemical evolution during the Earth's Hadean eon and reviewed the relevant literature. We suggest that prebiotic chemical evolution started … in microspaces with membranous walls, where external temperature and osmotic gradients were coupled to free-energy gradients of potential chemical reactions. The key feature of this scenario is the onset of an emergent evolutionary transition within the microspaces that is described by the model of complex vectorial chemistry. This transition occurs at average macromolecular crowding of 20 to 30% of the cell volume, when the ranges of action of stabilizing colloidal forces (screened electrostatic forces, hydration, and excluded volume forces) become commensurate. Under these conditions, the macromolecules divide the interior of microspaces into dynamically crowded macromolecular regions and topologically complementary electrolyte pools. Small ions and ionic metabolites are transported vectorially between the electrolyte pools and through the (semiconducting) electrolyte pathways of the crowded macromolecular regions from their high electrochemical potential (where they are biochemically produced) to their lower electrochemical potential (where they are consumed). We suggest a sequence of tentative transitions between major evolutionary periods during the Hadean eon as follows: (i) the early water world, (ii) the appearance of land masses, (iii) the pre-RNA world, (iv) the onset of complex vectorial chemistry, and (v) the RNA world and evolution toward Darwinian thresholds. We stress the importance of high ionic strength of the Hadean ocean (short Debye's lengths) and screened electrostatic interactions that enabled the onset of the vectorial structure of the cytoplasm and the possibility of life's emergence.

Authors: Jan Spitzer,

Date Published: 3rd Jun 2009

Publication Type: Not specified

Protein mobility and diffusive barriers in Escherichia coli: consequences of osmotic stress

Abstract (Expand)

The effect of osmotic stress on the intracellular diffusion of proteins in Escherichia coli was studied, using a pulsed version of fluorescence recovery after photo-bleaching, pulsed-FRAP. This method … employs sequences of laser pulses which only partly bleach the fluorophores in a cell. Because the cell size and geometry are taken into account, pulsed-FRAP enables to measure diffusion in very small cells of different shapes. We found that upon an osmotic upshock from 0.15 to 0.6 Osm, imposed by NaCl or sorbitol, the apparent intracellular diffusion (D) of mobile green fluorescent protein (GFP) decreased from 3.2 to 0.4 microm(2) s(-1), whereas the membrane permeable glycerol had no effect. Exposing E. coli cells to higher osmolalities (> 0.6 Osm) led to compartmentalization of the GFP into discrete pools, from where the GFP could not escape. Although free diffusion through the cell was hindered, the mobility of GFP in these pools was still relatively high (D approximately 0.4 microm(2) s(-1)). The presence of osmoprotectants restored the effect of osmotic stress on the protein mobility and apparent compartmentalization. Also, lowering the osmolality from 0.6 Osm back to 0.15 Osm restored the mobility of GFP. The implications of these findings in terms of heterogeneities and diffusive barriers inside the cell are discussed.

Authors: Geert van den Bogaart, Nicolaas Hermans, Victor Krasnikov,

Date Published: 28th Apr 2007

Publication Type: Not specified

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