Ernesto Cota - Protein-Ligand Interactions Flashcards
Goal of Lecture series?
Continuation of the Structural Biology course - Look at techniques to identify ligands for our protein of interest
What are the different techniques that we are going to look at to investigate Protein-ligand interactions?
When thinking of protein-ligand interactions experimental techniques, what are we ideally looking for?
What is the Yeast-2-hybrid technique?
Yeast 2-hybrid method
Genetic screening technique - allows us to identify a ligand from a library of thousands of ligands
Permits a wide search for potential binding partners for known or unknown proteins
Links proteins to their genes - once we identify the interaction, we have a gene that expresses that ligand
What is the principle behind the Yeast 2-hybrid method?
Outline in more detail how the Yeast-2-Hybrid method is carried out? i.e. how do we get the fusion proteins into the cell?
Yeast 2-hybrid - typical practice
- Transform yeast with your “bait” of choice
Bait = DNA coding for the DBD fused to DNA for your protein of interest
- Prepare the prey - DNA coding the AD fused to DNA for a selection of ligands (e. g. using cDNA library generated from mRNA extracted from a particular cell type of interest)
- Transform yeast cells with the prey DNA - whole library of AD-prey fusions –> Ideally each yeast cell picks up only one prey DNA molecule
- Check for reporter gene expression –> identifying ligand that binds to protein - remember we know and have the gene of the ligand in our cDNA library
What type of reporter gene is typically used in the Yeast-2-hybrid method?
What is the Yeast-3-hybrid method?
How can we modify the Yeast-3-hybrid system to reduce the number of false positives?
How can the Yeast-3-hybrid method be modified to examine RNA-RNA interactions?
Pros and cons of Yeast-2-hybrid method?
What is a GST-pull down method?
Used mainly to confirm a suspected interaction (with a known protein)
Explain the GST pull down method
Analyze the results from a GST pull down? What does it tell you?
Hint - testing different deletion mutants of ligand/prey so that they can figure out which region binds to bait
GST pull-down pros and cons?
GST pull-downs - pros, cons
Pros:
- Quick and easy (if you have a clone of your bait protein)
- If target or prey proteins are radiolabelled, GST-fusion bait protein is invisible on the autoradiogram
Cons:
- Not very quantitative - i.e. binding constants?
- Careful controls needed
- GST-bait fusion may be susceptible to proteolysis
- Larger amounts of target/prey proteins needed for identification (if not already known) - low signal
What is a Gel Shift Assay or Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA)?
What does this gel-shift assay native gel show us?
Why not use SDS-PAGE for Gel Shift Assays?
We cannot denature the protein as we require the protein-NA interaction. Hence, a simply acrylamide gel is used
What would ideal Gel Shift Assay results look like?
How would you interpret the following gel-shift assay?
Gel-shift assay pros and cons?
Outline two examples enzymatic tagging of a protein of interest that commonly used and why they are commonly used?
Outline how we are able to biotinylate a protein of interest?
What are some examples of biotin binding partners that are commericially used?
Is the biotin-avidin interaction stable?
What role does the enzyme sortase nornally perform in gram +ive bacteria?
Sortase – function
Enzyme used to anchor secreted proteins on the external cell membrane of Gram+ bacteria
- Recognizes and cleaves the LPXT-G motif on the C terminus of secreted proteins - forming acyl-enzyme intermediate
- Transfer - Forms isopeptide (amide) bonds between C-terminus of secreted proteins and NT of peptidoglycan (lipid II)
How can sortases be used to create a fusion protein?
Real life application of sortases in red blood cells?
Engineer erythroid precursors → new RBCs that expressed a protein called Kell with a modified C-terminus (LPXTG-HA) → sortase recognizes motif and binds - sortase modified RBCs
Addition of target protein with an aminoglycine nucleophile - nucleophilically attack and replace sortase – tethering it to the cell surface
Why would we want to modify our proteins - create bioconjugates?
Most amino acids are neutral pH are relatively chemically inert, but we can…
Add new functionalities to proteins using reagents that:
- Covalently modify biomolecules in specific, desired sites
- Produce minimal side reactions
- Work in ‘gentle’ solution conditions (i.e. aqueous, near neutral pH)
- Are safe to use outside ‘chemistry’ labs
- Are commercially available
- Have been tested in different systems – research papers
What groups are we commonly modifying when creating bioconjugates?
And
Reason for creating bioconjugates?
How can we modify primary amines on a protein of interest for conjugation?
When performing modifications of amines, why would we want to use sulfo-NHS?
Outline what is going on in this example of amine modification?
Outline how cysteine residues (-SH) can be used for bioconjugation/modification?
Explain how Maleimides were used for crosslinking of superoxide dismutase?
Are Maleimides used to add fluorescent labels?
How can maleimides and sulfo-NHS be combined?
Outline how maleimides and sulfo-NHS conjugation is used for an ELISA?
- Nucleophilic attack of primary amine on ester of Sulfo-SMCC cross linker
- Activated Maleimide ring double bond reacts with HS-antibody to conjugate antibody to carrier
What is photoaffinity labelling (PAL)?
Photoaffinity Labeling (PAL) – only reactive when exposed to light
- Photo-reactive reagents are chemically inert compounds - reactive when exposed to UV or visible light
- Proteins modified with PAL reagents can covalently bind their target(s) after activation by light
- Unlike other methods, PAL can label low abundance and low affinity proteins
Active field of research, with increasing number of commercially available compounds
Outline the ideal properties of a PAL reagent?
What are the three moeities on a PAL reagent?
Outline how the PAL reagent (Sulfo-SBED) can be used to investigate protein-ligand interactions?
Outline an example of Sulfo-SBED used in action?
After running PAL (sulfo-SBED), what did they find out about the interaction between Ad2 capsid and CAN NPC domain?
What does a normal PAL workflow look like?
What are Diazirines used for in bioconjugation?
How are photo-amino acids used to identify new ligand-protein interactions?
Apart from diazirines, what other cross-linking reagent can be used and how does it compare?
STAT3 and HSP90 - binding partners
Ku70 and ku80 - binding partners
Outline how diazirines were included into a study that looked at the antimicrobial peptide produced by leukocytes?
Srinivas et al., 2010
Using the cross-linking capabilities, what protein was the peptidomimetic peptide resembling protegrin binding to?
Srinivas et al., 2010
Give one reason why diazirines are useful and three applications of diazirines?
Apart from understanding which proteins & ligands interact, what else are we interested in finding out?
We need to have a theoretical understanding of protein-ligand interactions
Basically, we need to codify binding behavior mathematically –> understand binding mathematicall/binding data - DG, Kon/off, etc.
We will examine models for:
- Single site binding
- Multiple site binding (independent sites)
What is a single binding system and what assumptions are made?
Single site binding model - We measure the formation of ML – readout
Assumptions
- Binding is dynamic, reversible – non-covalent
- Measurements when thermodynamic eq. is reached - i.e. Conc. of complex doesn’t change over time
Important to support assumptions with structural data:
- Number of ligand binding sites?
- Any Cofactors?
- Inhibitors present?
- Conformational changes upon ligand binding – are they reversible?
What are the rate equations for the forward and reverse reaction of a single site binding model and how can this be rearranged to form an equation in terms of Ka?
Ka - equilibrium association constant
How do interpret Ka values? What does a large or small value mean?
What is the relationship between Ka and Kd?
What are the units for Kon and Koff and how are they calculated?