Elucidating the role of interacting residues of the MSH2-MSH6 complex in DNA repair mechanism: A computational approach.

The DNA repair system is crucial to repair the error resulting in DNA replication. MSH2-MSH6 protein complex plays a significant role in maintaining the mismatch repair mechanism. Mutations in the interface between the two proteins compromise their function in the repair process. The present study aims to understand the impact of missense mutations in the interacting sites of the MSH2-MSH6 protein complex. MSH6 is unstable due to the disordered N-terminal domain. This is stabilized by the MSH2 hetero-dimerization. We used pathogenicity and stability predictors to identify the missense mutations that could be more pathogenic with the destabilizing property. The mutations W764C of MSH2, and L1201F and G1316E of MSH6 were predicted to be highly deleterious and destabilizing by all the in silico predictors. The dynamic motion of the native and mutant (W764C) MSH2-MSH6 protein complexes was further investigated using Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the GROMACS package. The Root Mean Square Deviation (RMSD), Radius of Gyration (Rg), and change in a number of intramolecular hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) were analyzed using the embedded packages of GROMACS. From the simulation studies, we observed higher deviation, lower protein compactness, and a decrease in the number of intramolecular hydrogen bonds in the mutant W764C MSH2-MSH6 protein complex. The observed results from the computational methods suggest the involvement of higher structural impact on the MSH2-MSH6 protein complex upon W764C mutation could affect the DNA repair mechanism.

A computational model to predict the structural and functional consequences of missense mutations in O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase.

DNA repair mechanism is a process through which the cell repairs its damaged DNA. Although there are several mechanisms involved in the DNA repair mechanisms, the direct reversal method is the simplest and does not require a reference template, in which the guanine bases are often methylated, and the methyl guanine methyl transferase protein (MGMT) reverses them. The mutations occurring in the MGMT protein might result in dysfunction of such DNA repair mechanism. In this study, we attempted to evaluate the impact of six missense mutations (Y114E, Y114A, R128G, R128A, R128K, and C145A) at three active-site positions (Y114, C145, and R128) as this might hinder the DNA binding to the protein. These six mutations were subjected to pathogenicity, stability, and conservation analysis using online servers such as PredictSNP, iStable, and ConSurf, respectively. From the predictions, all the six mutations were almost predicted to be significant. Considering true positives, true negatives, false positives, and false negatives, three mutations (Y114E, R128G, and C145A) showed "loss of DNA repair activity," and were analyzed further using molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) using GROMACS for 50ns. MDS run showed that the C145A mutant demonstrated higher structural deviation, decreased compactness, and the binding patterns. The Y114E mutant showed almost a null effect from the structural analysis. Finally, the R128G mutant showed structural variations in between the C145A and Y114E mutations of MGMT protein. We believe that the observed findings in this computational approach might further pave a way of providing better treatment measures by understanding the DNA repair mechanisms.

Computational and modeling approaches to understand the impact of the Fabry's disease causing mutation (D92Y) on the interaction with pharmacological chaperone 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin (DGJ).

Fabry's disease (FD) is the second most commonly occurring lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs). The mutations in α-galactosidase A (GLA) protein were widely found to be causative for the Fabry's disease. These mutations result in alternate splicing methods that affect the stability and function of the protein. The mutations near the active site of the protein results in protein misfolding. In this study, we have retrieved the missense mutation data from the three public databases (NCBI, UniProt, and HGMD). We used multiple in silico tools to predict the pathogenicity and stability of these mutations. Mutations in the active sites (D92Y, C142Y, D170V, and D266N) of the protein were screened for the phenotyping analysis using SNPeffect 4.0. Mutant D92Y was predicted to increase the amyloid propensity as well as severely reduce the protein stability and the remaining mutations showed no significant results by SNPeffect 4.0. Protein dynamics simulations (PDS) were performed to understand the behavior of the proteins due to the mutations. The simulation results showed that the D92Y mutant was more severe (higher deviation, loss of intramolecular hydrogen bonds, and lower compactness) than the other protein mutants (C142Y, D170V, and D266N). Further, the action of pharmacological chaperone 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin (DGJ) over the severe mutation was studied using the molecular docking analysis. Chaperone DGJ, an iminosugar plays a convincing role in repairing the misfolded protein and helps the protein to achieve its normal function. From the molecular docking analysis, we observed that both the native protein and protein with D92Y mutation followed similar interaction patterns. Further, the docked complexes (native-DGJ and mutant-DGJ) were subjected to PDS analysis. From the simulation analysis, we observed that DGJ had shown the better effect on the protein with the D92Y mutation. This elucidates that DGJ can still be used as a promising chaperone to treat the FD caused by mutations of GLA protein.

Molecular dynamics-based analyses of the structural instability and secondary structure of the fibrinogen gamma chain protein with the D356V mutation.

Mutations in the fibrinogen gamma chain (FGG) gene have been associated with various disorders, such as dysfibrinogenemia, thrombophilia, and hypofibrinogenemia. A literature survey showed that a residue exchange in fibrinogen Milano I from γ Asp to Val at position 330 impairs fibrin polymerization. The D356V (D330V) mutation located in the C-terminus was predicted to be highly deleterious and to affect the function of the protein. The pathogenicity of the altered gene and changes in protein functions were predicted using in silico methods, such as SIFT, PolyPhen 2, I-Mutant 3.0, Align GV-GD, PhD-SNP, and SNPs&GO. The secondary structure of the mutant protein was unwound by the end of the 50-ns simulation period, and a structural change in the helix-turn transition of the alpha-helical (352-356) region residues was observed. Moreover, a change in the length of the helical region was visualized in the mutant trajectory file, indicating the local transient unfolding of the protein. The obtained computational results suggest that the substitution of the neutral amino acid valine for the acidic amino acid aspartic acid at position 356 results in an unwound conformation within 50 ns, which might contribute to defective polymerization. Our analysis also provides insights into the effect of the conformational change in the D356V (D330V) mutant on protein structure and function.

Single amino acid polymorphism in aldehyde dehydrogenase gene superfamily.

The aldehyde dehydrogenase gene superfamily comprises of 19 genes and 3 pseudogenes. These superfamily genes play a vital role in the formation of molecules that are involved in life processes, and detoxification of endogenous and exogenous aldehydes. ALDH superfamily genes associated mutations are implicated in various diseases, such as pyridoxine-dependent seizures, gamma-hydroxybutyric aciduria, type II Hyperprolinemia, Sjogren-Larsson syndrome including cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Accumulation of large DNA variations data especially Single Amino acid Polymorphisms (SAPs) in public databases related to ALDH superfamily genes insisted us to conduct a survey on the disease associated mutations and predict their function impact on protein structure and function. Overall this study provides an update and highlights the importance of pathogenic mutations in associated diseases. Using KD4v and Project HOPE a computational based platform, we summarized all the deleterious properties of SAPs in ALDH superfamily genes by the providing valuable insight into structural alteration rendered due to mutation. We hope this review might provide a way to define the deleteriousness of a SAP and helps to understand the molecular basis of the associated disease and also permits precise diagnosis and treatment in the near future.